Nuc and kielers stolen in South Shropshire.

[Curly green finger's]

Afternoon I'm sharing this because Im so angry and shocked and well peed off! I wasn't going to post about it but I thought folk should know.
Over the last five days I've had a nuc and two kielers stolen and I've this morning spent 3 hrs moving an apiary to a new location, what gets me is why just the kielers and one nuc? Why not take the bigger colonys.
I've reported to the police but what can they do they are useless.
I've removed my blog as there is to much info on there stupid really on my part for advertising so much..

 

[pargyle]

Colony thefts are always sad as we know that, usually, it has to be someone with knowledge of bees ... you will have everyone's sympathy.

The reality is that full colonies, unless they are very accessible to a vehicle are not that easy to steal. Plus ... at this time of the year who really wants to buy a colony of bees .,... all you are going to be doing is getting them ready for winter.

A nuc and few kielers you can carry very easily but I would question who in their right mind would want them ? There's not a lot of value in them.

I don't think you can blame your blog .. apart from a few photos there's nothing to identify where it is .. unless you are local to the area ... my guess is that it's not the usual knowledgeable bee thieves ... more likely someone local who knows very little and thinks they have the makings of three colonies ... quite odd really.

 

[victor meldrew]

Afternoon I'm sharing this because Im so angry and shocked and well peed off! I wasn't going to post about it but I thought folk should know.
Over the last five days I've had a nuc and two kielers stolen and I've this morning spent 3 hrs moving an apiary to a new location, what gets me is why just the kielers and one nuc? Why not take the bigger colonys.
I've reported to the police but what can they do they are useless.
I've removed my blog as there is to much info on there stupid really on my part for advertising so much..

There has been so much publicity about bees and beekeeping in the mass media that it’s attracted all layers of society including the criminal classes . Where beekeeping was once a gentleman
ly pursuit with the exception of a few truly commercial enterprises Resulting in increased prices for bees, equipment, quack remedies . Dog eat dog is the order of the the day . The days of gifting a nuc to a newbie or a friend having a bad Winter are fading fast !
we shall all have to be on our guards ! Very sad

 

[Curly green finger's]

Colony thefts are always sad as we know that, usually, it has to be someone with knowledge of bees ... you will have everyone's sympathy.

The reality is that full colonies, unless they are very accessible to a vehicle are not that easy to steal. Plus ... at this time of the year who really wants to buy a colony of bees .,... all you are going to be doing is getting them ready for winter.

A nuc and few kielers you can carry very easily but I would question who in their right mind would want them ? There's not a lot of value in them.

I don't think you can blame your blog .. apart from a few photos there's nothing to identify where it is .. unless you are local to the area ... my guess is that it's not the usual knowledgeable bee thieves ... more likely someone local who knows very little and thinks they have the makings of three colonies ... quite odd really.

Interesting because I spoke to some of the locals and one said that there was youths in the field from the village who he had adviced they stay away from the hives unless they want to get stung..
We have also just recently found near the quarry which is like a field away lots of empty bottles, laughing gas canisters and a burnt area.
Im wondering if it was youths?
Im also known in the local village for being a beekeeper and more people than I like know about my hives at two locations .

 

[pargyle]

Interesting because I spoke to some of the locals and one said that there was youths in the field from the village who he had adviced they stay away from the hives unless they want to get stung..
We have also just recently found near the quarry which is like a field away lots of empty bottles, laughing gas canisters and a burnt area.
Im wondering if it was youths?
Im also known in the local village for being a beekeeper and more people than I like know about my hives at two locations .

Its always a worry when you have out apiaries... more so if they are visible. A beekeeper or beekeeping thief would not have gone for the kielers... sounds more like an opportunist who doesn't know a lot ...

 

[ericbeaumont]

unless they are very accessible to a vehicle are not that easy to steal.

Sorry to hear the bad news, Mark.

Sounds like amateurs, but beware: if they're not, they may be back with a van (unless this was the apiary you've just moved).

 

[sipa]

There is location data embedded in digital photo's and video's that is easy to access. Make sure to ALWAYS remove the Exif data from your media before posting.

Sorry to hear of the theft, the buggers should be shot !

 

[pargyle]

Afternoon I'm sharing this because Im so angry and shocked and well peed off! I wasn't going to post about it but I thought folk should know.
Over the last five days I've had a nuc and two kielers stolen and I've this morning spent 3 hrs moving an apiary to a new location, what gets me is why just the kielers and one nuc? Why not take the bigger colonys.
I've reported to the police but what can they do they are useless.
I've removed my blog as there is to much info on there stupid really on my part for advertising so much..

So you have moved all the other hives to another location ? Three miles or three feet .... or you will have a lot of confused bees back at the original site and some very depleted colonies ! How did you get on moving full colonies with supers on ... it's my idea of a nightmare at this time of the year. Got any tips for us ?

 

[drdrday]

Interesting because I spoke to some of the locals and one said that there was youths in the field from the village who he had adviced they stay away from the hives unless they want to get stung..
We have also just recently found near the quarry which is like a field away lots of empty bottles, laughing gas canisters and a burnt area.
Im wondering if it was youths?
Im also known in the local village for being a beekeeper and more people than I like know about my hives at two locations .

Have you had a good hunt around the location? Might not have been serious bee rustlers, but just 'youths' messing around, and picking on the nuc/kielers because they were easy to pick up. If they decided it wasn't as much fun as they thought there's a chance they just dumped them somewhere nearby after the first sting. Might be worth a try...

 

[Pembroke]

So you have moved all the other hives to another location ? Three miles or three feet .... or you will have a lot of confused bees back at the original site and some very depleted colonies ! How did you get on moving full colonies with supers on ... it's my idea of a nightmare at this time of the year. Got any tips for us ?

One possible way would be to lay a roof down upside down, stack the honey supers in it and put another roof on top. You now have a sealed block you can strap up. If there's bees trapped in them it will only be for a short while. Could be heavy though.

Or you could use solid crown boards, just they'd be a bit more difficult to secure in the exact place to ensure no thing can get out of any gaps.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Haven't had time yet to have a good look around, but tomorrow morning me and alf will take the quad out to have a good look around.
As to moving hives from one apiary to a new one, we started yesterday late evening breaking hives down, so supers and brood boxes separated in twos and as I don't have lots of travel screens, I used crown boards with mesh over the holes both top and bottom where I don't have OMFs. Supers were put back on the hives with tile battern in between to help them have some air and the brood box entrances were left open untill all flying bees were home.
Lots of gaffa and ratchet straps were used to sicure the CBs down.
I have some corner brackets some where the idea was to use them but could I find them in the shed... Maybe a gentlemans look wasn't good enough!

 

[Foxylad]

Watched “the pollinators“ moving hives in America. All lights with red filters, smoke, placed on a lorry. Then throw a huge screen net over the lot.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Moving polinators.
Is this the video you were talking about?

 

[Foxylad]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10187550/