Rival beekeepers blamed for rise in hive thefts

[TooBee...]

Read this yesterday, and thought the members would be interested to a Link to it,

Rival beekeepers blamed for rise in hive thefts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/26/rival-bee-keepers-blamed-rise-hive-thefts/

"Martin Smith, public affairs manager at the British Beekeepers' Association, said ...
... A colony of bees that a few years ago might have sold for £25, can now sell for above £200."

I've been Lurking on a few bee forums / sites since four to five years ago, and never recall "a colony of bees" going for £25? Maybe the journalist has got it mixed up, when she may have been referring to the prices of Queens?

""Katie Hayward, the managing director of Felin Honeybees, an education centre and honey farm in Cemaes, Anglesey (said) "If they were buckfast or carnies they only sell for about £40 each, but these queens, you can sell the queens for about £180." Ms Hayward said she was convinced another beekeeper had stolen her bees.""

I also wasn't aware you could buy Buckfast Queens so reasonably, I would expect to pay around that price for an open mated Buckfast Queen... but I think I'm starting to digress and show my ignorance.

However IF her prices are accurate, I don't understand why she didn't fit a hidden GPS Tracker to the Hive, she'd have received a Message to her mobile in the middle of the night as they were being stolen! You can buy them for around a fifth of the price for one of her Queens.

I think this is her website (under construction)
http://felinhoneybees.com/index.html

 

[pargyle]

Oh my ... are they STILL going on about it on Anglesey ... <Katie Hayward had her bees stolen in 2015 ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-34033270

It goes on and on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-40885461?SThisFB

What is it about Anglesey and disappearing bees ???

 

[Swarm]

The Druids.

 

[Apiarisnt]

www.telegraph.co.uk/

The Telegraph is not noted for its accuracy in reporting anything, and its reporting of matters vaguely scientific, numerical or statistical is a frequent the subject of BBC R4's "More or Less" assessment (and usually comes out badly).

Well summed up in the unattributed quote:

"The problem with this world is that natural disasters occur despite being reported by the Daily Telegraph"

However we cannot be certain that the BBKA got it entirely right, as ever.

 

[fatshark]

TooBee ... have you got a link to the GPS tracker kit?
Most of the ones I'm aware of (car) require a 12V supply of some sort.
Thanks

 

[For want of a better word]

The Druids.

No it was this geezer who nicked all the bees!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modomnoc

Yeghes da

 

[madasafish]

Beekeepers AND journalists are dumbing down.. some actually go so far as to believe that what they say is reality...

 

[Erichalfbee]

Interesting that Ms Hayward’s website is under construction. It has been in that state for at least two years. How does she organise her bee and honey sales and all the courses she runs I wonder?

 

[TooBee...]

TooBee ... have you got a link to the GPS tracker kit?
Most of the ones I'm aware of (car) require a 12V supply of some sort.
Thanks

Hi
I originally came across this YouTube, what really caught my attention was the long battery life, which is theoretically possible, but in practice means that the battery needs to be recharged once a year, as long as it isn't used much ... in a stolen beehive it would only need to be used a few times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsHFJsYyKzg

However I cannot access their AlexiExpress store for some reason, was able to last time, from memory around maybe £50 to £60; so I did a quick search on Ebay and Amazon, and found this, all you need to be careful about it the battery life, there are some forums that review these things, they would be a good place to get expert opinions.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPS-vehi...639936?hash=item43f266eb00:g:CGIAAOSwA2hZxGPF

Hope I've pointed you in the right direction

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

to report accurately you must first obtain accurate information from a reliable source. I think the Torygraph fell at the first fence here - and then got run over by the ambulance.

More dubious 'news' from the isle of the mad.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What is it about Anglesey and disappearing bees ???

What is it about Anglesey. period?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

What is it about Anglesey. period?

Well it has an extremely tall monkey puzzle tree

 

[SDM]

Interesting that Ms Hayward’s website is under construction. It has been in that state for at least two years. How does she organise her bee and honey sales and all the courses she runs I wonder?

Contact details are still on the site and her Facebook page has some 700 followers so no issue with courses. Honey sales are bulk only. With around 1000 hives I doubt she can be bothered with selling by the jar.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's good going - quadrupling the amount of colonies she has in one season.

 

[SDM]

to report accurately you must first obtain accurate information from a reliable source. I think the Torygraph fell at the first fence here - and then got run over by the ambulance.

More dubious 'news' from the isle of the mad.

Seems the guardian were just as happy to post the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...n-thriving-beekeeping-market?CMP=share_btn_fb

 

[Hivemaker.]

With around 1000 hives I doubt she can be bothered with selling by the jar.

They are a charity, all her money from honey sales are donated to the RNLI.

Yes we are a charity " not just here for the honey" we donate it all to the RNLI

https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=499186&postcount=32

 

[SDM]

That's good going - quadrupling the amount of colonies she has in one season.

Too much Christmas cheer got you losing track of the year?
It's 2 seasons and she bought out a couple of retiring commercial Beekeepers along the way.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

rubbish - she stated on here almost twelve months to the day that she had 250 colonies. Then in April this year - in front of an auditorium full of beekeepers she stated the same (although the figure did change three times in the following half hour)
So what is the truth?
Maybe ITTLD can tell us

 

[alldigging]

They are a charity, all her money from honey sales are donated to the RNLI.



https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=499186&postcount=32

FELINHONEYBEES LIMITED (10138948)
is a company.

Maybe all profits after tax go to RNLI.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Maybe all profits after tax go to RNLI.

She said twice on here it was all money and they were a charity, maybe she wasn't telling the truth.