Security.

[Pembroke]

A thief was caught after another beekeeper noticed the brands on the hives. The hives were recovered and the offender successfully prosecuted.

The only criminals that ever get caught are the stupid ones.

Oh and another twist from recent years, try not to have the tops of your hives in a light colour, or in a straight line. As google Earth 'can' be used by the hell bent on stealing bees brigade to locate your hives in a remote place, although it usually takes a bit of intelligence to narrow down the location first.

 

[BBC]

Unfortunately, if there is a will there is a way. Unfortunately, the above nearly always applies to the thief. Reading the thread, I think you’ve pretty much covered all the bases, pros and cons.
Mine are hidden away nicely and out of site. But they’re close to a country lane and peak hour rat run. I walk about fifty yards down the lane in my space suit, which gives the game away.
Can the be privately insured?
It’s the risk we take and short of a few strategically placed bear traps (joke) what are you going to do?

 

[Murox]

Unfortunately, if there is a will there is a way. Unfortunately, the above nearly always applies to the thief. Reading the thread, I think you’ve pretty much covered all the bases, pros and cons.
Mine are hidden away nicely and out of site. But they’re close to a country lane and peak hour rat run. I walk about fifty yards down the lane in my space suit, which gives the game away.
Can the be privately insured?
It’s the risk we take and short of a few strategically placed bear traps (joke) what are you going to do?

Sort of - SmartWater comes in three variants, "Index Solutions", "Indsol Tracer" and "SmartWater Instant", and use different techniques.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Always makes me chuckle when you see 'police' and 'smart' in the same sentence

 

[HughMann]

I use a tripwire with a blank 12 bore cartridge.
Scares the brown stuff from any would be thief and you can't get near the bees once it has gone off!!
Sometimes I use them on the approach to the apiary if there are only a few ways in, or on a gate or even attached to a hive.
Beware - if YOU set the trap off - don't go near the bees for a while.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275376032705

 

[pargyle]

A battery powered angle grinder will make short work of any chain or padlock.

Given the bees maintain a good temperature in the middle of the nest maybe some sort of thermoelectric? device could provide power for the tracking device. A student design project?

. . . . . Ben

Bear in mind that beehive thefts are not carried out by conventions thieves who carry bolt cutters and battery powered angle grinders ... those people are looking for lock ups full of tools and equipment that can be shifted on ebay or at a car boot sale ...

We have to accept that hive thefts come from a small and disreputable section of the beekeeping fraternity .. you have to know how to handle them, what to do with them and either absorb them into an existing beekeeping enterprise or to have some knowledge of where to sell them on.

These people are going to be looking for an easy target and something with a chain through a ring on the roof and firmly attached to a ground anchor is going to send them on to the next target ... they KNOW where YOUR hives are and I hope you have them protected in some way.

 

[Antipodes]

The only criminals that ever get caught are the stupid ones.

Oh and another twist from recent years, try not to have the tops of your hives in a light colour, or in a straight line. As google Earth 'can' be used by the hell bent on stealing bees brigade to locate your hives in a remote place, although it usually takes a bit of intelligence to narrow down the location first.

Here is the moment.

 

[blackcloud]

I was inspired/insensed to post due to driving past a paddock in a works van- the cab height enabled me to see over the hedge - between 50 and 60 fairly new sage green abelos around the periphery.
(If you're from the good county you probably know who you are and you need to do something)
I could have had a couple of dozen myself in no time there and then.
In fact as a point prover- send in your orders

 

[Wilco]

I was inspired/insensed to post due to driving past a paddock in a works van- the cab height enabled me to see over the hedge - between 50 and 60 fairly new sage green abelos around the periphery.
(If you're from the good county you probably know who you are and you need to do something)
I could have had a couple of dozen myself in no time there and then.
In fact as a point prover- send in your orders

Sounds mint, what thyme are you going back?

 

[Anduril]

Here is the moment.

In the UK we have Wildlife liaison officers or Wildlife Crime Officers. A number of years ago the one based in Cardiff gave a talk to our local BKA, this is the person to contact if your hives are stolen. He did a TV series with John Rhys Davies if I recall. Our Welsh Associations did have a contact within the Association at one time, not sure if it is continuing since Covid.

 

[Erichalfbee]

My brother currently lives in a country where it’s really unsafe to leave anything unsupervised – Ukraine. He’s already lost four hives to unknown thieves and doesn’t want to risk anymore.

I hope he and @Podilia are OK

 

[JohnRB]

After some thefts near me I bought a GPS tracking device and used it successfully for a year. I had to buy a 2G data sim which wasn't as easy as I expected and the battery life was about 3 months which was OK. I buried the sensor in the corner of a brood frame. It was about 2.5" by 2'5" and the thickness of a frame. It warned me if disturbed (I checked after each inspection that I had received a text) and I could track it to a new location if moved. I was quite happy with it.

The only reason I stopped using it was because I convinced myself that the bees were avoiding raising brood near it and I wondered if the radio circuitry was disturbing them, or maybe it emitted some sort of sound they could hear when operating. I didn't have time to do any experiments and eventually took it out. It may have been a complete coincidence!

As an aside, I have monitors in all my hives that pass temp, humidity, sound to a base station by blue tooth and these have never seemed to have any effect. In fact, they often incorporate the sensors into whatever crazy wax building endeavour they regularly embark on

I finally found Giff Gaff do a very cheap 2G sim if anyone is looking for one (the base station needs one to send me the data). I put £10 on it and it uses abut 20p per month

 

[Podilia]

I hope he and @Podilia are OK

I'm ok, thank you. Will be glad to join the forum but have electricity only 4-6 hours per day (to be correct - at night) since orcs have started the war against power stations and lines. It's about a month now, the darkest time in a year. We eat with candles. Long winter evenings are wasted for nothing. I have two refrigerators with fruits, vegetables and other food - mostly the crop from my garden. They are still working but if the blackout will last for two days I can lose it. I'm ready to be without electricity for many days if it helps to defeat orcs.
In November transported the hives to the backyard. For this work hired two young refugees from the East. Their city now is destroyed. How many lives destroyed that bastard!

Bees are ok, all summer colonies are alive. Unfortunately the price of honey has fell to the bottom - thanks to the exporters who use the situation for making the extra profit at the expense of beekeepers. That's a shame because we see the inflation not just here but in other countries too, and we know about the new preferences for the Ukrainian business in EU, for example a tax preference when the goods (including honey) cross the border.

My cousin (Life in London is good while the government pays the rent) writes about the first snow in London. Congratulation! The snow (not much, really) caused havoc so the authorities even closed schools.
We've got this enough now. Real nice winter, not very cold, snowy. Who have a wood stove (I have) - wins. Although natural gas is also avaliable, but many people have installed modern heating equipment which doesn't work withont electricity. Old one is working well.

Macron, Scholtz - business suck as usual

Edited: cousin, not cousine. did't have much time to check the grammar and vocabulary

 

[Camey]

Another option?, wont stop removal, and resiting in new kit but might stop any opportunistic S bags? I would't by the kit £60 but a printed poster might give a second thought?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm ok, thank you. Will be glad to join the forum but have electricity only 4-6 hours per day (to be correct - at night) since orcs have started the war against power stations and lines. It's about a month now, the darkest time in a year. We eat with candles. Long winter evenings are wasted for nothing. I have two refrigerators with fruits, vegetables and other food - mostly the crop from my garden. They are still working but if the blackout will last for two days I can lose it. I'm ready to be without electricity for many days if it helps to defeat orcs.
In November transported the hives to the backyard. For this work hired two young refugees from the East. Their city now is destroyed. How many lives destroyed that bastard!

Bees are ok, all summer colonies are alive. Unfortunately the price of honey has fell to the bottom - thanks to the exporters who use the situation for making the extra profit at the expense of beekeepers. That's a shame because we see the inflation not just here but in other countries too, and we know about the new preferences for the Ukrainian business in EU, for example a tax preference when the goods (including honey) cross the border.

My cousine (Life in London is good while the government pays the rent) writes about the first snow in London. Congratulation! The snow (not much, really) caused havoc so the authorities even closed schools.
We've got this enough now. Real nice winter, not very cold, snowy. Who have a wood stove (I have) - wins. Although natural gas is also avaliable, but many people have installed modern heating equipment which doesn't work withont electricity. Old one is working well.

Macron, Scholtz - business suck as usual

Podilia. Thank you so much for letting us know how you are. I despair at what you and your country are going through.
My heart goes out to you

 

[BBC]

I'm ok, thank you. Will be glad to join the forum but have electricity only 4-6 hours per day (to be correct - at night) since orcs have started the war against power stations and lines. It's about a month now, the darkest time in a year. We eat with candles. Long winter evenings are wasted for nothing. I have two refrigerators with fruits, vegetables and other food - mostly the crop from my garden. They are still working but if the blackout will last for two days I can lose it. I'm ready to be without electricity for many days if it helps to defeat orcs.
In November transported the hives to the backyard. For this work hired two young refugees from the East. Their city now is destroyed. How many lives destroyed that bastard!

Bees are ok, all summer colonies are alive. Unfortunately the price of honey has fell to the bottom - thanks to the exporters who use the situation for making the extra profit at the expense of beekeepers. That's a shame because we see the inflation not just here but in other countries too, and we know about the new preferences for the Ukrainian business in EU, for example a tax preference when the goods (including honey) cross the border.

My cousine (Life in London is good while the government pays the rent) writes about the first snow in London. Congratulation! The snow (not much, really) caused havoc so the authorities even closed schools.
We've got this enough now. Real nice winter, not very cold, snowy. Who have a wood stove (I have) - wins. Although natural gas is also avaliable, but many people have installed modern heating equipment which doesn't work withont electricity. Old one is working well.

Macron, Scholtz - business suck as usual

Stay safe Podilia. In the news this evening many Orcs are rebelling against the darkness. We all hope Sauron gets fatally stung soon.