When officials in Dorchester County, South Carolina, planned a weekend aerial spraying of pesticide, they were hoping to kill mosquitoes that might be carrying viruses like Zika.

The pesticide probably exterminated plenty of the summertime nuisances, infected or not. But the spraying also left millions of honeybees dead because a government employee failed to notify a commercial beekeeper of the spraying schedule, according to the county administrator.

Millions of honey bees were killes after a government employee failed to notify a commercial beekeeper of the spraying schedule Credit:AP

"We've learned that the beekeeping community in Dorchester County, and in that area in particular, is larger than we were aware of," Jason L. Ward, the county administrator, said in an interview Thursday. "Our idea is to balance working with them with the issue of public safety."

A beekeeper who said she had lost more than 2 million bees was not immediately available for an interview. But on Facebook, the beekeeper posted photographs and a video of mounds of deceased bees.