Thousands of Unexpected Buzzing Insects Swarmed I-90 in Montana

This sounds like a borderline Final Destination moment, particularly if you are allergic to bee stings. Travelers on a busy stretch of Interstate 90 in Montana suddenly found themselves surrounded by thousands of buzzing honey bees.

The potentially painful situation unfolded on west-bound I-90 between Bozeman and Belgrade on September 3, when traffic came to a standstill due to either an accident or road construction delays.

According to motorist Rebecca K., who witnessed the incident, the traffic standstill became more exciting than it should have been because a semi-truck carrying a trailer full of bee hives was leaking thousands of bees from a hole in the netting material that is meant to contain the bees.

Rebecca wrote on social media, "A MASSIVE swarm of bees is leaking from the trailer. Bees everywhere in dead stop traffic! Do not exit vehicle!" Yikes! Imagine being stuck near the swarm of bees on a motorcycle.

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A nerve-racking scenario for those who suffer from apiphobia.

Most of us don't love the thought of getting stung by a bee. Worse than bees are those super-annoying Yellowjackets and hornets. But some people are terrified of bees and/or bee stings. This phobia is called apiphobia, or melissophobia. It's estimated that millions of people worldwide have this fear of bees.

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What to do if you find yourself surrounded by bees.

ABC News wrote a piece in 2018 that outlined some best practices if you suddenly find yourself surrounded by a swarm of bees. Highlights include:

• Run.
• Get inside a vehicle or secure structure.
• Don't flail your arms trying to swat them away. This will likely fuel the bees' attack response.
• Hold your breath. Bees navigate mostly by odor.