Beehive security

[Dookie]

Morning

I've found a place to keep my 3 beehive, it on an allotment near me.

Last year the person who used to keep bees in thr same place had all their hives stolen in the night.

So before I set my girls up is there anything/anyway to stop it happening again?

I was thinking of padlocked the hive together so it would male it to heavey to carry. But any ideas welcome

 

[Erichalfbee]

Last year the person who used to keep bees in the same place had all their hives stolen in the night.

This is the best reason to not keep them there at all. You are going to have to lock the floor to the ground as well.

 

[drex]

I used to have hives on an allotment, but had no problem. I would find a different site for yours though. Put them on the allotment and you are asking to have them nicked. Security devices just slow the thieves ( and you) down.

 

[Garry R]

Bees and hives are too expensive to site in a place where they are obvious and asking to be nicked (B******s). Well worth spending a little time searching for a more secluded site. Try an advert in a local newsagent's shop window - you never know. Many of the public are aware of the importance of bees and although not keen enough to go the whole hog and have a colony of their own, may be keen to at least site some bees.

 

[Dookie]

I might put one of those ipod tracker things in the roof. At least if they go

 

[Newbeeneil]

I might put one of those ipod tracker things in the roof. At least if they go

If you are going to put a tracker in a hive it would need to be in the brood box where it is inaccessible to thieves. I experimented with a hollowed out bottom rail but my problem was battery life of the tracker.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Morning

I've found a place to keep my 3 beehive, it on an allotment near me.

Last year the person who used to keep bees in thr same place had all their hives stolen in the night.

So before I set my girls up is there anything/anyway to stop it happening again?

I was thinking of padlocked the hive together so it would male it to heavey to carry. But any ideas welcome

A claymore mine facing the thieves likely access point and linked to the hive roof? Just don't forget to disarm it before inspections.

 

[Dookie]

A claymore mine facing the thieves likely access point and linked to the hive roof? Just don't forget to disarm it before inspections.

Well there is a ww2 museum near the site, I will ask if they have any left overs. I do think they have a tank, I will ask if they can point it directly at the hives

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A claymore mine facing the thieves likely access point and linked to the hive roof? Just don't forget to disarm it before inspections.

I recall a 'master' beekeeper who, when he was in the RAF rigged flashbangs under his hive stands

 

[Murox]

Morning

I've found a place to keep my 3 beehive, it on an allotment near me.

Last year the person who used to keep bees in thr same place had all their hives stolen in the night.

So before I set my girls up is there anything/anyway to stop it happening again?

I was thinking of padlocked the hive together so it would male it to heavey to carry. But any ideas welcome

Find a more suitable location. Whilst some people have had no problems with allotment apiaries many have experienced a lot. Theft being just one consideration. Whatever you decide make sure you always have an alternative apiary site, ideally one which is more than 3 miles away from the other.

 

[Dookie]

Finding another place is not going to be an option. Its taken nearly a year to find this place

 

[JamezF]

I found that posting a message on a local FB site was quite sucessful for getting in touch with people who were interested in providing space for bees. Not always suitable, but it didn't take too long to find somewhere.

James

 

[Newbeeneil]

I found that posting a message on a local FB site was quite sucessful for getting in touch with people who were interested in providing space for bees. Not always suitable, but it didn't take too long to find somewhere.

James

I had 5 offers in an hour and 25 in a day when I advertised on FB for a site on the edge of a field, wood or big garden, most were unsuitable but about 20%were good.

 

[pargyle]

Morning

I've found a place to keep my 3 beehive, it on an allotment near me.

Last year the person who used to keep bees in thr same place had all their hives stolen in the night.

So before I set my girls up is there anything/anyway to stop it happening again?

I was thinking of padlocked the hive together so it would male it to heavey to carry. But any ideas welcome

There are loads of threads on here where hives have been stolen with lots of sensible ideas for security but the reality is that, unless you can anchor the hives to the ground with something that is not easily cut with a set of bolt croppers then they are going to be vulnerable. Hive thefts are not spontaneous, the thieves target accessible ones and plan the theft in advance. Easy money to someone who knows what they are doing.

Forget trackers, these thieves will dispose of the boxes and probably frames - the only hive theft I know about where the perpetrator was caught had a pile of ash in the yard where the stolen hives and parts were burnt. Let's face it .. it's the bees that represent a large percentage of the value and they are the one thing that could not be traced ... low risk crime as there is little chance of them being caught and the penalties for theft of this sort are ridiculously low.

Find a different site - it's going to be better for you in the long run in all respects. Allotment sites have been shown to be problematical in many ways - as soon as someone gets stung by anything it will be your bees at fault - you are susceptible to the vagaries of the allotment management with little or no security of tenure. There must be other sites available in private gardens or in farmland somewhere in your vicinity.

 

[Vanterrier]

Here's a "daft" idea...

Could you spray the bees with "Smart water"?

Locks only keep honest people out...

K

 

[pargyle]

Here's a "daft" idea...

Could you spray the bees with "Smart water"?

Locks only keep honest people out...

K

It's a daft idea - heavy and visible security will deter thieves as they want to be in and out quickly and don't want to mess about cutting chains and padlocks or trying to uproot ground anchors ...

 

[Dookie]

I recall a 'master' beekeeper who, when he was in the RAF rigged flashbangs under his hive stands

I love this idea. Can you imagine how much you would soil your suit if you was trying to steal bees at night and when you opened them there was a flashbang.

 

[Vanterrier]

I was thinking more of recovery than prevention, but accept its probably just daft

I suppose determined thieves could just rock up at night and transfer the frames of bees to their own boxes and leave the originals in place and it could be days before the theft was noticed...
K

 

[madasafish]

Thieves often return to the site of past successes.
Find another site.

 

[Dookie]

The world of bees seems small so who is stealing them and who is buying them? It's all odd.