Purple Dye

[will]

With all the bees being stolen nowadays why not use the same dyes that banks use when you open the money box all the money gets covered in purple dye,
You could fix it to the crown board, so when the thief gets them home when he opens up and removes the crown board every thing gets covered in purple dye bees and all then they would be no good to anyone, as they have been stolen you have lost them anyway. The banks have a way to stop it from being activated

Will

 

[VEG]

cost and after a short time the "purple" bees would be replaced

 

[The Cumbrian]

But the purple equipment, hands and face wouldn't.

 

[VEG]

yep but you have to get caught police wont waste time looking for someone stealing a beehive

 

[Little John]

I can think of two reasons against this kind of idea - the first is that one day you may forget ... and get covered in purple yourself !

The second is that we're living in strange times, and you'd probably be charged with assault. Seems it's ok for institutions to do this kind of thing, but not individuals. Go figure.

 

[Cefn Eithaf]

What about Smart Water ?

 

[ratcatcher]

this was my main reason for using top bar hives made from scrap, and keeping nationals for my garden and more secure areas, my tbh cost £15 or less to make, compared to cost of a national

 

[For want of a better word]

A British company called Volumatic sold cash cases with the dye canisters in the 70s... activation was by a pull chord, money, thief and all would be indelibly stained... we also had a smoke bomb that could be activated in case of a hold up... filled room with dense smoke.
The only case where a victim tried to claim from the manufactures of a deterrent involved anti climb paint...............perhaps hives could be coated with it.

Granddad advocated a 10 bore loaded with buckshot !

 

[Little John]

this was my main reason for using top bar hives made from scrap, and keeping nationals for my garden and more secure areas, my tbh cost £15 or less to make, compared to cost of a national

Other anti-theft aspects of Top Bar hives are:

their designs are often one-offs, and are thus pretty-much unsaleable (unless commercially made and 'pretty') thus there's no obvious market for a dodgy box.

TBH's (and other forms of long hive) are bl##dy heavy and cumbersome to move - and as such are not attractive to thieves.

pinching just the bees by pulling 'em out comb by comb isn't really an option either, unless they've really done their homework, in which case the bees are long gone anyway.

LJ

 

[sipa]

How about a motion activated GPS Locator with a ten year battery life ?

I have one in active development...

What would you be prepared to pay for such a device ? Be sensible please !

 

[rae]

Depends what is in it.

Assume is it GPS + SIM slot + battery so it can report in. The SIM costs are the biggest problem.

If someone can get the cost of these down to £100, then they will sell thousands. It would be worth sticking one on everything stealable.

Given that Huawei can make a 3G WIFI access point that sells for £49 (retail) this should be possible.

 

[sipa]

£100 is not far off what I'm aiming at.

I'll keep you posted

sipa

 

[pargyle]

For my money I reckon deterrents are better than 'after event' devices. Something simple like big stainless steel U-bolts (stainless very difficult to cut quickly) a large diameter chain passed through them with hefty padlocks attaching the chains to a really solid ground anchor (the corkscrew type that need a special tool to get them out of the ground - they sell them for mooring up canal boats) would work. I can't think bee theives would come prepared with oxy-acetylene cutting gear and large diameter steel or stainless above 1/4" will defeat bolt croppers.

Faced with something that is going to take them hours to get free and will make a lot of noise is going to be something that moves the thief onto an easier target. Sadly, probably someone else's hives !

Or what about those solar powered halogens you can buy on fleebay for a few quid with a built in movement sensor stuck on the top of an 8' scaffold pole whacked into the ground - that would scare the hell our of a thief when it came on and hopefully wake the bees up as well !!

The chances of getting bees/hive back after theft is minimal - even with distinct marking or 'locators' the damage will be done, it's gone - however, you might consider sticking a label on your hives that says ' This hive protected with a concealed anti theft device' and hope that the thief believes it - let's hope they don't read this forum !!

I had my boat broken into a few years ago and I made some very visible, 1/4" thick stainless steel bars attached with s/s hasps so that the hatches could not be easily broken into and if they were, then the thief would have obstructed access into the boat - I never had a problem after fitting that lot - although other boats moored nearby were targeted and items stolen.

Police always say - Noise, light, locks, alarms - deterrent is best option.

Phil

 

[Hivemaker.]

For my money I reckon deterrents are better than 'after event' devices.

I agree, and think the death sentence would also be a good deterrant...hung drawn and quartered...very slowly.

 

[Little John]

The chances of getting bees/hive back after theft is minimal - even with distinct marking or 'locators' the damage will be done, it's gone -

Although I personally favour the idea of a concealed ground anchor (which would rip the bottom of the hive out if lifted) together with a 110dB shed alarm to wake the bees up - which should result in someone beating a hasty retreat with a thousand angry girls in hot pursuit ...

... I do think the GPS locator has some merit. If it could be silently activated when the hive is lifted, sending GPS coordinates every (say) 15 mins by text message, then even if the locator is discovered and disabled, you still have the last known coordinates of the hive. The rest is down to whether the Police would take action.
Even if the hive is subsequently broken-up or spirited away, you can prove where the hive WAS located at a particular date and time. Nothing can erase that information - but whether or not Plod will act on that info of course is a different matter.

LJ

 

[BeeJayBee]

The rest is down to whether the Police would take action.

More than six months ago I spoke to a member of our local Police's "Country Watch", when they had an information session at a local town. I was assured they'd get back to me with recommendations for hive security, but I'm still waiting. I fear there'd be the same response if I were to report hives either stolen or damaged.

 

[Into the lions den]

More than six months ago I spoke to a member of our local Police's "Country Watch", when they had an information session at a local town. I was assured they'd get back to me with recommendations for hive security, but I'm still waiting. I fear there'd be the same response if I were to report hives either stolen or damaged.

I got zero action on my hive theft from Broxburn back a bit..................then one day they called all happy to say they had found them.

The media had got involved, and almost all the press, (as far away as New Zealand!!!,) picked up the story and ran with it.

It was not the police that had found them, it was a member of the public.

They had been out for a walk and saw a group of hives matching the pictures in the paper. Sadly all it was was another group of our hives. The stolen ones were never recovered, the police had no interest in speaking to me the next time I went to see them, could not get the glass window closed quick enough, ended up talking to me through a gap about an inch wide with their hand on the window waiting to close it. Best bit still to come though.............

Got outside and one of the officers from inside the station was already outside doing a vehicle check on our truck. Tyres lights etc..........and we were not allowed to leave until they heard back from the DVLA about tax, insurance, listed drivers, and any outstanding traffic matters..............

Just tells you 'Go away and do not bother us with anything that risks giving us work!' If you do we will nick you for anything we can find.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I got zero action on my hive theft

And i got just the same when i had ten hives stolen, they are way to busy victimizing motorists and any other easy targets around here.

 

[Dishmop]

A secret door that opens and lets all the bees out when the hive is moved.

 

[Walrus]

It's very sad that bee theft goes on. Mine are quite near the farmers house and he has a noisy dog which I hope makes them an unattractive target. Not surprised to hear about apathy from the boys & girls in blue....