Local hives stolen

[Pete D]

theft of 4 local hives stolen recently, as reported below


http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/n...s_walked_off_with_four_of_his_hives_1_2201307

 

[Moggs]

It grinds my gears.
Edit: on second thoughts - no point in adding fuel to the fire!

 

[pargyle]

It's worrying isn't it ?

A: Remote location so someone KNEW they were there - which rather indicates some local knowledge.

B: Took the lot so had to be someone who KNEW about bees and beekeping.

Rather indicates that it is someone locally who needed to replace lost colonies ... very sad.

 

[Pete D]

It's worrying isn't it ?

A: Remote location so someone KNEW they were there - which rather indicates some local knowledge.

B: Took the lot so had to be someone who KNEW about bees and beekeping.

Rather indicates that it is someone locally who needed to replace lost colonies ... very sad.

Yes I agree, I have some that I am now considering moving as to lose them would be a real blow

 

[alanf]

The basic dilemma, do you publicise it and alert people to potentially stolen bees being offered? Or do you keep any publicity within the local beekeeping circles because there are always opportunists looking for anything not bolted down? Tips about blocking the entrance and strapping the hive together might be close to a "how to" guide for some.

Interesting police comment: "A spokesman at the force’s Wymondham HQ said it believed that the theft was the first time hives have been reported stolen in the county,". If another theft follows, is that a copy cat who read about the first case?

 

[pargyle]

Yes I agree, I have some that I am now considering moving as to lose them would be a real blow

Also ... with out apiaries at that time of the year (sometime between March and May) thieves would probably know that there was little chance of the owner being anywhere around. The colonies would still be relatively dormant so easy to move. With four hives nicked it's either going to be four trips with a reasonable sized estate car or one trip with a van ... it's likely to be someone at least 3 miles away as otherwise the fliers would probably head back.

There was a spate last year of hive thefts all over the place - my view is still that a really secure ground anchor with a hefty chain and padlock is probably the only effective deterrent. Let's face it - would you leave £500 in a box in a field without any security - and only go and look at it once every 10 days and sometimes not for months ?

I was thinking of a screw in to the ground type anchor but I reckon that a better bet would be a bucket full of quick setting fence post mix poured into a hole in the ground under the hive with a u shaped piece of Rebar set into it would be even more secure. Total cost including chain and hefty padlock - probably less than £15 ! 3 jars of honey !

 

[Jed D]

UMM... This is very unsettling.

We've got 4 Hives ( 3 months old ) standing in a wonderfull old english meadow 500 yds off the road.( I won't say where )

The scene is really quite picturesque.
6 foot high eletric fences and CCTV Camera's would spoil it...

 

[BeeJayBee]

Tips about blocking the entrance and strapping the hive together might be close to a "how to" guide for some.

 

[Dishmop]

Somebody told me about this last weekend. It appeared that he knows the owner but not too sure about that. I think if somebody is determined to steal them.........they will. Cordless angle grinders, drills, ..

 

[pargyle]

Somebody told me about this last weekend. It appeared that he knows the owner but not too sure about that. I think if somebody is determined to steal them.........they will. Cordless angle grinders, drills, ..

Yep - a determined thief will find a way - the best you can hope for with chains and a ground anchor is that they will think it's too much trouble and go and nick someone else's ... it's a deterrent - not a solution.

I read somewhere that even big chains not actually attached to anything have been known to deter bicycle thieves ! They nicked the one next to it without a big chain draped round it !

 

[madasafish]

You need some indelible dye - as used in transporting banknotes- and a trigger loaded aerosol aimed to dye the hapless individual who takes off the roof without disarming it. Plus a warning sign nearby so you cannot be sued.

Of course, if you don't disarm the trigger and take off the roof for an inspection...

 

[london_flower_guy]

having been on the receiving end of a bike theft in the past, despite investing in substantial security measures, I cant think of anything that would stop a really determined hive thief.

I feel very sorry for the victim here, Keeping bees is hard work at times and a real labor of love it must be gut wrenching to arrive at an out apiary and find your hives stolen.

I have heard a few reports of frames of bees being stolen from hives this spring along with queens and frames with queen cells going missing but not actual complete hive set ups.

I hope the victims manage to recover and make up for their losses and that the culprits are found

 

[Fraise]

You need some indelible dye - as used in transporting banknotes- and a trigger loaded aerosol aimed to dye the hapless individual who takes off the roof without disarming it. Plus a warning sign nearby so you cannot be sued.

QUOTE]

And some sugar/honey solution in the dye to attract the bees to the thief. All the better if it sprays through any veil they are wearing.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

a trigger loaded aerosol

better off with a trigger happy aerosol tramping around with a shotgun over his shoulder!

One of the speakers in this year's spring convention - Tom Salter (ex RAF weapons engineer) knew of a counterpart in the army who rigged thunderflashes under all his hives to deter thieves. but was told off by the elf and safety brigade.
Bet his whole apiary would have looked spectacularly 'Nosemic' after an attempted burglary!

 

[Tabby15]

Am risking a post as a new bee....Our association brands the postcode onto their hives but not sure how much of a deterrent this would be. Also requires branding irons and never to move. Anyone any experience of claiming on home insurance if hives stolen from garden?

 

[enrico]

You need some indelible dye - as used in transporting banknotes- and a trigger loaded aerosol aimed to dye the hapless individual who takes off the roof without disarming it. Plus a warning sign nearby so you cannot be sued.

Of course, if you don't disarm the trigger and take off the roof for an inspection...

That's not a bad idea, a crown board with a trigger to squirt dye if the roof is removed, how could you disarm it before removing the roof? Must be some clever people out there who could design a prototype! Not me I'm afraid!

 

[Little John]

Am risking a post as a new bee....Our association brands the postcode onto their hives but not sure how much of a deterrent this would be. Also requires branding irons and never to move. Anyone any experience of claiming on home insurance if hives stolen from garden?

You're right to question the branding - 20 seconds with an angle grinder and it's gone - or splice a new piece of wood in. Branded frames can be easily replaced, and anyway it's the bees which have the higher value - and they're untraceable.

I had 2 very smart & shiny Nationals pinched last year from my front garden - well, they were kinda 'on display' ... Now I keep bees in the back garden, and in the scruffiest hives imaginable.

Forget home insurance. To claim you need a crime number, and to get that you need to report the theft to the police. As a result of doing so, you'll find that your theft is reported in the local rag, so that other scrotes will also know where there are 'easy pickings', and those who didn't know before "that there is good more-or-less risk-free money to made from dodgy bees" will be wised-up accordingly.

In short - bee and hive thefts are a real problem, and one which has been around since at least the mid-nineteenth century - and we still haven't found a good solution for it.

LJ

 

[Tabby15]

Ours are also at the rear and well out of sight. Think I could probably compete with you on scruffiness hives though..really need to replace/repair one of the lids I "inherited". It has been funny seeing friends reactions to the hives though. I think they expect the picturesque WBC variety, not nationals made many years ago from varying wood sources.

 

[Little John]

... your theft is reported in the local rag, so that other scrotes will also know where there are 'easy pickings', and those who didn't know before "that there is good more-or-less risk-free money to made from dodgy bees" will be wised-up accordingly.

Seems it's not just 'the local rag' - here's an example where thieves (and potential thieves, in these times of 'austerity') are given nearly all the info they need via the national media:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22660132

"Ms Spence estimates a colony of bees could sell for more than £200."
So - knock off 5 of those in a night - nice little earner - more than from mugging or lifting copper cable from the side of railway lines ...

"They lifted the six frames out of the hive complete with the colony on it, put them in the box, shut the box up, Bob's your uncle, away they go, and probably as quickly as that."
"So Big 'Arry - we don't need to nick the whole hive then ? Just half a dozen of those 'frames' things - which fit into a smaller box which are easy to carry - that's handy - so we need one or two of those - but it'll be a quick 'in and out', so you can leave the engine running ... "

"To steal a colony of bees, you need to know what you're doing. A person walking the street would not know how to come in and effectively remove a colony of bees."
"Right, 'Fingers' Malone - you'll need to go on a course, or ask around to get all the dope. Maybe join one of those Bee Forums they have on the Internet ? "

"The bees that were taken were a fairly angry lot - they even managed to put me in accident and emergency last year through stinging me, so maybe there might be some poetic justice."
"Ok, 'Fingers', sounds like I'd better get you a beesuit, veil and some gloves too - I can pinch those from somewhere while you're on that course ... "


It's like a bl##dy advert for prospective bee thieves - that there is a pressing demand for bees due to adverse weather conditions and insecticides - how much the bees will fetch - how quick it is to pinch 'em - what 'special equipment' you need - and what risks you need to be wary of.

And they wonder why crime is on the increase ? Perhaps it could be that the majority of thieves can read.

LJ

 

[pargyle]

Seems it's not just 'the local rag' - here's an example where thieves (and potential thieves, in these times of 'austerity') are given nearly all the info they need via the national media:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22660132

"Ms Spence estimates a colony of bees could sell for more than £200."
So - knock off 5 of those in a night - nice little earner - more than from mugging or lifting copper cable from the side of railway lines ...

"They lifted the six frames out of the hive complete with the colony on it, put them in the box, shut the box up, Bob's your uncle, away they go, and probably as quickly as that."
"So Big 'Arry - we don't need to nick the whole hive then ? Just half a dozen of those 'frames' things - which fit into a smaller box which are easy to carry - that's handy - so we need one or two of those - but it'll be a quick 'in and out', so you can leave the engine running ... "

"To steal a colony of bees, you need to know what you're doing. A person walking the street would not know how to come in and effectively remove a colony of bees."
"Right, 'Fingers' Malone - you'll need to go on a course, or ask around to get all the dope. Maybe join one of those Bee Forums they have on the Internet ? "

"The bees that were taken were a fairly angry lot - they even managed to put me in accident and emergency last year through stinging me, so maybe there might be some poetic justice."
"Ok, 'Fingers', sounds like I'd better get you a beesuit, veil and some gloves too - I can pinch those from somewhere while you're on that course ... "


It's like a bl##dy advert for prospective bee thieves - that there is a pressing demand for bees due to adverse weather conditions and insecticides - how much the bees will fetch - how quick it is to pinch 'em - what 'special equipment' you need - and what risks you need to be wary of.

And they wonder why crime is on the increase ? Perhaps it could be that the majority of thieves can read.

LJ

Yes, it's plausible, but I (sadly) still think that these thefts are from persons (I won't give them the title beekeepers) who have actually some experience of keeping bees. No matter how much they are worth it is still a daunting task to move a hive or open up a colony to steal just the frames. After that you still have the problem of what you do with them and how you sell them on ... it all smacks of someone who knows about bees I'm afraid.

In addition, many of the thefts have been from apiaries that are not immediately visible ... perhaps some local knowledge as well.

I think that there should be a private site for beekeepers who have had hives stolen to report the thefts and perhaps see if some sort of pattern emerges of where/when/how the thefts are happening .... we need a semi retired person with some experience of catching illicit people to coordinate it all on a map and database ... perhaps someone looking for a challenge to replace their previous career ... anyone out there JBM ?