Emily Chan
Overall, the researchers drove about 5,800 miles and found that at least one dead bee from every trip.
Some trips were worse than others. From Salt Lake City to Moab, there were between 50 and 175 bee deaths, depending on the weather conditions.
Then, they considered the size of the sticky traps and how many bees were stuck to them in order to estimate the total bee kills per vehicle.
They noted that approximately 94,000 trips are made across the stretch of highway from Salt Lake City to Moab every day.
They calculated that during warm weather, millions of bees would be killed every single day just along that roadway alone.
When other roads and highways in Utah and other nearby western states are taken into account, the estimates shoot up to the tens of millions, perhaps even the billions.
The results of the experiment indicate that a lot more bees are being killed by car collisions than previously thought.
The researchers suggested that flowers should not be planted in the median strip between roadways to reduce the amount of bee deaths.
The study was published in the journal Sustainable Environment.
