farmers go looking for bees on the other side of the country

A driver on the alert and a particularly sensitive cargo. 14 million bees are preparing to travel thousands of kilometers, so the driver must adapt his driving and plan his stops. “You must not overheat the truck or puncture a tire”, he says. The workers, taken in the back of the truck by beekeepers, are from Florida, United States. 400 hives will be rented to a farmer who does not have enough bees to pollinate his plans. In total, he paid $50,000 to rent these bees for a month.

The company has been moving bees across the country for decades, to areas where their populations have dropped significantly. A journey that is not without risk. Regularly, American and Canadian televisions report on accidents whose consequences are sometimes unpleasant. Authorities must cordon off the area while waiting for beekeepers to successfully group the insects together. Despite the driver’s precautions, several hundred of them did not survive the journey. After decades of decline, the honey bee population has increased in recent years in the United States.