KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Travelers on an East Tennessee interstate were forced to brake for workers \u2014 and drones, perhaps even a queen \u2014 when a truck carrying about 1 million bees crashed Friday.<\/p>\n
The swarm shut down an exit of Interstate 40 in Knoxville, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation regional spokesperson. There were no injuries, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ramp from I-40 East to Henley Street is back open but the truck is destroyed and the bees are\u2026 well\u2026 buzzing,” Nagi posted, along with a photo of a person in beekeeper garb. “Unless you are dressed in this outfit please stay in your vehicles in this area.\u201d <\/p>\n
Later Friday, Nagi confirmed that all of the bees had been moved from the area and the truck was removed. <\/p>\n
What could not be as easily quelled were the puns.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, this is the buzz around town?” U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett wrote on social media. “This stuff just writes itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Virginia Department of Transportation commiserated on social media. Its northern division reminisced about a 2018 crash that similarly released a swarm of bees on Interstate 495, prompting the advice, \u201cPlease roll up your windows.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Travelers on an East Tennessee interstate were forced to brake for workers \u2014 and drones, perhaps even a queen \u2014 when a truck carrying about 1 million bees crashed Friday. The swarm shut down an exit of Interstate 40 in Knoxville, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation regional spokesperson. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":5514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"16fe30c5-c2b3-4882-8dba-29dcaa37332d","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"","published":"2026-04-17 13:11:27","updated":"2026-04-17 13:26:30","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1303,1304],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-5513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5513\/1-million-bees-make-for-bumper-to-buzzer-traffic-on-a-tennessee-highway-ramp\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"1 million bees make for bumper-to-buzzer traffic on a Tennessee highway ramp","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5513\/1-million-bees-make-for-bumper-to-buzzer-traffic-on-a-tennessee-highway-ramp\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5513\/1-million-bees-make-for-bumper-to-buzzer-traffic-on-a-tennessee-highway-ramp\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-47f65875def80b251f1fa25bced6859de336ea215dcc4f038e90bee51c976df5.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-47f65875def80b251f1fa25bced6859de336ea215dcc4f038e90bee51c976df5.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-04-17T20:11:27Z","datePublished":"2026-04-17T20:11:27Z","dateModified":"2026-04-17T20:30:02Z"},"rendered":"