ST. CHARLES, MI — As many as 50,000 honeybees that swarmed out of a vacant St. Charles home disturbed by a car crash have been destroyed in an effort to keep them from hurting people.

"We would have liked to have saved them, but human life is more important than bees," said Terry Klein, owner of T.M. Klein and Sons Honey in St. Charles.

A 54-year-old St. Charles man crashed into vacant home on Spruce Road about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, and a hive of bees living in the home swarmed the area.

Kyle Browne, a a Tri-Township Fire Department captain and St. Charles-based T.M. Klein and Sons Honey employee, estimated the hive at 50,000 to 60,000 honeybees.

Browne and four other employees from T.M. Klein and Sons Honey rushed to the scene, along with Tri-Township firefighters and Saginaw County sheriff's deputies.

The crash destroyed the hive, and the bees were "nasty" without it, Klein said.

"If somebody tipped over your house, you'd be pretty mad, too," he said.

Fire and police officers made a decision to destroy the bees by spraying them with foam, which kills the bees instantly, Klein said.

They destroyed the bees to ensure no one got hurt, Browne said. The bees were covering vehicles and outside walls of the home. He said no one at the scene was stung badly.

The majority of the bees were in the field, and a bee keeping crew stayed to continue spraying bees with foam as they returned, Klein said.

Honey bees don't normally sting, Klein said. He works with them in a T-shirt.

Browne said the remaining bees could start over and build a new hive elsewhere.

The bees in the vacant home had a store of honey, but it wasn't edible after being sprayed with foam, he said.

Although honeybees are dying off because of pesticides, parasitic mites and other problems, losing one hive won't make or break the local population, Klein said.

Michigan bees faced a tough winter — about 90 percent of Klein's bees died off, he said — but they've had a good spring and summer to build up their hives and honey stores.

T.M. Klein and Sons typically does not tear out hives from buildings because it is long and labor-intensive work, Klein said.

— Lindsay Knake covers education for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.