About this episode

This episode discusses a remarkable rescue effort by Tristen Tartaglia to save millions of bees after a truck accident in Oregon.

How do you reach out to local beekeepers to help save millions of bees after their transport truck jackknifes? In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping , host Eric Bennett welcomes Tristen Tartaglia, a Southern Oregon beekeeper and owner of Southern Oregon Swarms, to share her remarkable story of saving millions of bees after a major truck accident. Tristen is deeply embedded in the local beekeeping community, performing 60–120 cutouts per year — including chemical-free removals of yellow jackets and bald-faced hornets. The episode also features a fascinating science segment on the waggle dance, revealing that bees actually communicate more precisely when a larger audience is watching — they literally dance better when they know someone is paying attention. The heart of the episode centers on Tristen's extraordinary effort at saving bees after a semi-truck jackknifed in Oregon in March 2026, dumping over 400 hives down a steep 30-degree ravine. Rather than stand by, beekeeper Tristan jumped into action, filmed the scene, and began physically moving broken hives and scattered frames to give the bees a fighting chance against the cold. After posting a raw video that reached 1.8…

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