SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — A Spokane County beekeeper is left picking up pieces of what's left of their hives thanks to an unwelcomed visitor.

A once-active meadow on Mount Spokane, buzzing with potential, was silenced by a stereotype typically seen in movies.

Matthew Pennell and his friend Colin and brother in law Josh, spent the last two years building their apiary, Lilac City Honey, with hundreds of thousands of bees to help pollinate the Pacific Northwest. A passion project started by coincidence, torn to shreds by a surprise visitor.

"We would be the worker bees, absolutely. Hundreds of thousands of them just hearing a nice buzz in your ear, now it's nothing," said Pennell. "Looks like we got attacked by a bear. It was heartbreak, that's what it was."

However, a run-in with the unwel

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