Hive Thefts

[Repwoc]

Battery life - not necessarily charge duration.
Seems to use bluetooth, which has a very limited range - so if the hive ends up somewhere where people do not pass closely, it would not report the position. It looks like it relies on a phone for location and wide area comms. Overall I don't think it would work that well for hive tracking

OK - I don't know how it works. It seems to use a CR3032H button battery which I don't think is rechargeable but they claaim lasts for up to five years. The original spec for Blue Tooth had a range of about 10 feet so clearly that would be useless for tracking applications. They claim that vehicles can be tracked in real time - maybe it relies on the thieves having the app installed on their phones.

 

[Repwoc]

Reviews on Trust Pilot suggest it is a scam:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/xyfindit.com

 

[Bear]

Disturbed!

Just been outside and noticed 1 neuc had the lid not on right and the stone ontop moved. I put it back as it should be. Now to my horror I find 1 of my hives has had the super lifted off and not put back on right. The queen excluder was on the roof with a large stone on top. Queen excluder on the ground to the side and the hive NOT as I left it. Make matters worse these hives are in my garden and approximately 1.5 from my house. Now I think about it one day I came home my gate was open. Probably then. Hope they got stung plenty.

 

[Murox]

Just been outside and noticed 1 neuc had the lid not on right and the stone ontop moved. I put it back as it should be. Now to my horror I find 1 of my hives has had the super lifted off and not put back on right. The queen excluder was on the roof with a large stone on top. Queen excluder on the ground to the side and the hive NOT as I left it. Make matters worse these hives are in my garden and approximately 1.5 from my house. Now I think about it one day I came home my gate was open. Probably then. Hope they got stung plenty.

Whoo hoo, if your not sleepwalking its time to talk to your neighbours about intruders and (sorry to use the words) Neighbourhood Watch; or have you upset someone at your local association ?

PS. Queen excluders are normally removed for the winter, or was it just in the hive above for storage?

 

[masterBK]

Are the queens still present I wonder? Rogue beekeepers desperate for a queen have been known to take them from other peoples hives. On the other hand may be a just curious lad/lass.

 

[roche]

Reviews on Trust Pilot suggest it is a scam:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/xyfindit.com

Reading their Ts&Cs makes for amusing reading. No guarantee that anything will work.

The biggest problems for hive tracking are concealment of the tracker, battery life, followed closely by communications costs.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Reading their Ts&Cs makes for amusing reading. No guarantee that anything will work.

The biggest problems for hive tracking are concealment of the tracker, battery life, followed closely by communications costs.

Communication costs are minimal if you have it set up right and it doesn't keep flagging up errors, hiding is not impossible, either in a custom made floor or a custom made side rail with a hollow within but I'm still trying to sort out the battery situation. I'm now looking at a small PV cell which will continually charge the on board battery during daylight hours. Hopefully this will generate adequate power during the winter days.
We shall just have to see. ��

 

[roche]

If you use text notification, I would have said the costs were not minimal - and the cost of the embedded transceiver is quite high - it also requires signal coverage at the apiary. If you go to ISM band radio, the range is limited, but no standing cost with relatively cheap transceivers.
Yes, avoiding false notifications is important and helps reduce the power requirements - but it is still difficult to conceal a PV cell

 

[Newbeeneil]

If you use text notification, I would have said the costs were not minimal - and the cost of the embedded transceiver is quite high - it also requires signal coverage at the apiary. If you go to ISM band radio, the range is limited, but no standing cost with relatively cheap transceivers.
Yes, avoiding false notifications is important and helps reduce the power requirements - but it is still difficult to conceal a PV cell

That's the point, don't conceal the cell, if you came upon some hives that looked different and had a small PV cel embedded in the woodwork and a sign on the lid saying " do not move or inspect before deactivating security system" would you not think twice about taking them?
I don't want to have to recover my hives, I don't want them nicked!

 

[Bear]

Whoo hoo, if your not sleepwalking its time to talk to your neighbours about intruders and (sorry to use the words) Neighbourhood Watch; or have you upset someone at your local association ?

PS. Queen excluders are normally removed for the winter, or was it just in the hive above for storage?

I leave my queen excluders on top of the roof with a stone / brick on top when I over winter them. To add a twist to the tale I met a woman on Friday night at the chip shop who wants to be a beekeeper, she got a hive for Christmas (no bees) and told me she was at my house the weekend before on Saturday AND Sunday. Both times I wasn’t in. Makes me think because I haven’t been in and “she knows me” she “the beekeeper” has decided to look in the neuc, oh no bees, then onto the hive where “whoever” has removed the granite cobble, the queen excluder and roof only to find / see insulation. With no idea why it’s there or how to remove it they have taken off the super where low and behold a bunch of crankie bees make themselves known, and in their haste to leave have half heartedly put the super on, roof and granite cobble. Neglecting the queen excluder and probably the gate. I’m going round to hers on Sunday night to see what equipment she has to start beekeeping. Any idea how to bring up the subject and see if she confesses it was her or her man? If it is her absolutely no way will I help or advise her.

 

[Murox]

Suggest you just use your recent "experience" as cautionary tale adding at the end a question like "what would you do?"; the response will give you a good indication.

 

[Bear]

Suggest you just use your recent "experience" as cautionary tale adding at the end a question like "what would you do?"; the response will give you a good indication.

Yes good point. I was going to say when you become a beekeeper you will get stung. When was the last time you got stung? And make up a story that you can get stung any time of the year if you keep bees close by. Which isn’t true. But she’s not to know. Unless she’s already on this forum!!! ������

 

[Erichalfbee]

Unless she’s already on this forum!!! ������

Eyeing up those hives alongside the M23?

 

[Bear]

Eyeing up those hives alongside the M23?

No. 10’ from my front door! NE Scotland!!!

 

[madasafish]

f it is her absolutely no way will I help or advise her.

Thus guaranteeing she will return when you are out......

 

[Erichalfbee]

No. 10’ from my front door! NE Scotland!!!

No not you.
The lady who might have interfered with your bees and who might be on the forum

 

[Hachi]

Come straight out with it and ask why don't you? A lot simpler than making up stuff imho

Alternatively, trail cam or video from you back window then confront.

 

[Bear]

Come straight out with it and ask why don't you? A lot simpler than making up stuff imho

Alternatively, trail cam or video from you back window then confront.

Could do but I wouldn’t expect an honest reply. If she’s going to interfere with what doesn’t belong to her why would she tell the truth?

 

[pargyle]

Come straight out with it and ask why don't you? A lot simpler than making up stuff imho

Alternatively, trail cam or video from you back window then confront.

I have several of these cameras .. useful for keeping an eye on everything from the workshop, the dog, my mother's house, to our home security. The software is free on line - sends alerts to your phone, I can view remotely on the internet and it takes an SD card so I have at least a month of history. It has a microphone and a speaker and I can actually speak through my phone and it is broadcast from the camera .. so many uses. Downsides - it's indoor only, needs a mains power supply and internet wifi. Really useful and versatle though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/YI-Wireles...qid=1581261655&sprefix=yi+home,aps,247&sr=8-3

 

[Bear]

Now that is very interesting. I now have a trail cam up covering my hives but I think they wouldn’t be back for quite a while if ever due to the reaction of the bees. It looked a quick getaway ‘from the scene of the crime’!! That would be more advanced than a trail cam.