Stolen Hives

[kighill]

I have received some information of two hives stolen from an apiary in the Southwell area of Nottingham within the last week or so.

The hives have a yellow mark painted onto the roofs, I believe in the shape of a circle. Should you be offered such a hive/hives locally please pass on the information and I will notify the owner.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Rotten luck
Paint is easily removed from a metal roof.

 

[Arfermo]

Rotten luck
Paint is easily removed from a metal roof.

How helpful is that?

 

[susbees]

How helpful is that?

Simple....it means that anyone offered hives would look even harder at the roof for signs of new scratches, slight difference in colour etc...

 

[waverider]

Only takes some Nitromors followed by wet and dry paper to effectively remove paint from roofing if metal.

I am contemplating on branding the wood on my hives.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

I am contemplating on branding the wood on my hives.

Just done mine today.

I realise it's still possible to paint over a brand or sand it away.

However, I put the brand of my postcode in the corner, just below the top bar which acts as a handle (national hives), as I reckon it would be difficult to get a circular sander in there.

Like a burglar alarm, it's not foolproof; I just hope it would make a tea leaf decide there are easier pickings elsewhere.

Dusty.

P.s. it was good fun branding the wood!

 

[BeeJayBee]

P.s. it was good fun branding the wood!

Would it be any use branding them on the inside too?

 

[oliver90owner]

Would it be any use branding them on the inside too?

The more, the merrier. Punched post codes on roof metal. Anything which makes them easy to recognise and difficult to obscure. Won't stop some, though. Hives would be firewood, especially if nicked by someone who alreday has a hive (has lost their colony).

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Just done mine today.

Dusty.

P.s. it was good fun branding the wood!

Btw, I told SWMBO I was doing it so the bees knew they'd returned to the right hive.

There was, I was glad to see, a slight hesitation before the inevitable "tut".

 

[Queens59]

Love it!! I told HimWMBO and he said 'bees aren't that clever are they? I think he needs another book ?

 

[countryman]

brand the frames then it is so hard to get rid of also i have noticed that the thefts are mainly about jan to march someone getting them to sell in the auctions?

 

[colinrelf]

stolen hives

With everyones hard work in the branding of hives etc has it deterred any theft's? Has anyone on here ever been offered any such equipment? Have the Police ever recovered any equipment? If not why not? What and where are the outlets for stolen equipment? Could a system be adopted where any nuc's are from a registered beekeeper? For myself you get to know other beekeepers in your own area and I guess this is the same for you lot? So where do stolen bees end up?

 

[tonybloke]

So where do stolen bees end up?

this is the most important question, not just who is knicking the bees, but who is buying them,thus creating the market for stolen bees

 

[For want of a better word]

Four years after a number of compressed air diving cylinders were stolen from my sons premises the Police returned them to us....... tracked down from the serial numbers on the cylinders.
The thief sold them on eBay and the purchaser attempted to get them "put in test"... fortunately the testing station filed the numbers into a data base and they were flagged up as stolen.. the "unsuspecting owner" was arrested for receiving and eventually the scuba gear thieves were tracked down and eventually given community service!

Perhaps hives & parts could have serial numbers branded in and numbers held on a data base... but at £30 for a box would it be worth the hassle?

 

[Hombre]

To be honest ItCH, I don't think that they were stealing the air in the bottles, otherwise the cylinders might have been discarded and never seen the light of day again.

The value is in the bees rather than in the frames, which are incidental and not greatly expensive. Rendered for wax and kindling.

 

[region2]

It's all about deterring theft - the more hassle for the thief, the more they're likely to go elsewhere. So brand inside and out, brand the top bars, mark the roof and maybe add a smart water sign!

R2

 

[yeogi75]

what about smart watering the bees or spray the bees with food dye, i know the bees will dye out and be replaced by new bees but the word will get around and make people think about targeting your hives, what do you think a bit ridiculous, or maybe some think there to work on

 

[For want of a better word]

To be honest ItCH, I don't think that they were stealing the air in the bottles, otherwise the cylinders might have been discarded and never seen the light of day again.

The value is in the bees rather than in the frames, which are incidental and not greatly expensive. Rendered for wax and kindling.

At £200 per cylinder... the thieves were after the refillable air cylinders!

I can see the comparison.... a colony (nuc) could go for upwards of £160.. and if one was offered at £80 from a geezer in the pub, to do a mate of his a favor, some I am afraid would not ask too many questions!

 

[victor meldrew]

At £200 per cylinder... the thieves were after the refillable air cylinders!

I can see the comparison.... a colony (nuc) could go for upwards of £160.. and if one was offered at £80 from a geezer in the pub, to do a mate of his a favor, some I am afraid would not ask too many questions!

Bees are too easy to raise for peeps to visit suspect pubs in search of a colony?
The thieves are more likely to have stolen the hives for their own use ?
Set up in an out apiary the thief can take his time to work out the marked hive parts and at the same time harvest a crop of honey ?
Theft is a bad business ! buying bees from unknown sources is just plain stupid as health, temperament and serious disease vectoring renders it a risk not worth taking !
VM

 

[oliver90owner]

buying bees from unknown sources is just plain stupid as health, temperament and serious disease vectoring renders it a risk not worth taking !


Yes, we all know that, but the 'willbie', who knows nothing at all, doesn't know and probably doesn't care.