Theft!!!!!

[EmsE]

Went along to my apiary today to give a practical lesson to some beginners. We were horrified to discover one of my hives has been stolen!!:mad: (this is where we need an in tears smilie)

The colony they chose was the strongest one in the apiary on a single brood. I didn't think any more of it over a month ago when someone had a nosey in my hive, but was that really someone dissing them out to see which was best to take?

The rest are being moved this evening- I'm not risking another disappearing.

Besides that, the class went well.

[gavin]

B&%$£@ds. Don't know what to say - it hasn't happened to me yet but we all live in fear of it. I try to keep my apiary location relatively private but it is hard to achieve when you start showing people your bees. Had seven folk round at mine this afternoon. At least I know that people look out over my apiary (from a distance) and notice anything unusual.

[EmsE]

Well, The bees have now being moved- necessary for a good nights sleep.:( Today was the first time I have taken or disclosed my apiary site position to anyone apart from the 2 Beekeepers I have been mentoring and our local secretary. My husband didn't even know where my bees were until he had his first visit there only a couple of weeks ago. The farm workers have been great and have been keeping an eye on them but people do pass by on the path on the other side of the field when they go fishing, but it is 1/4 mile up the farm track behind a locked gate. The bees are now sited somewhere that has much better security. We've since found out that a beekeeper in the Peeblesshire Beekeepers association has also had a hive stolen. When I phoned the police, they indicated that they had information on another hive being stolen.

[The Drone Ranger]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/8605156/Beekeeping-Diary-Robins-bee-loud-glade-and-the-importance-of-socks.html
Lets see them make of with one of these

[Trog]

I'm very sorry to hear this. Some beekeepers here have all their hive parts (not sure if that also includes frames) branded using a hot branding iron. I think it's possible to buy such a thing, made up with appropriate initials and heated with a blowtorch.

Maybe a notice in the mag might alert folk to the fact that there are stolen hives out there? Someone might notice something.

[Bumble]

It's a wicked thing to do.

It's no consolation EmsE, but they're stealing bees in North Wales too http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2312006/Bees-sweet-revenge-police-look-hive-vandal-stung-countless-times-killed-1-000-insects.html

[greengumbo]

Ugh that is terrible. The fact that it sounds like a beekeeper who knew what to look for is even more galling. Hope the new site is better.

[The Drone Ranger]

Not recommending but tracking mobile phone software is available for example http://www.mobilelocate.co.uk/?gclid=CIG559CZ27YCFXDMtAodRzoA5g

[gavin]

You would hope that there would be some hi-tech tracking aid, but a fully charged mobile phone hidden in every hive doesn't sound like the answer. Maybe one day the bee inspectorate could chip every hive they come across? (Anyone making off with our kitten had better never take her to a vet again!).

There are some places where there has been such a thieving problem intermittently over several years, presumably when some incompetent and &%$£#@@!! beekeeper loses their bees again. A certain large beekeeper near me has had whole apiaries stolen - in one case a visit to an east coast beekeeper discovered frame nails and wire in a bonfire in his yard. Another apiary disappeared from one site without trace, possibly shipped off to another part of the UK. There was also the case of the Dundee researcher losing bees from a very public site. With about 6-10 hives myself it would be easy for a thief to make off with the lot, and although my main site has been chosen to be out of view of passing public and hard of access, it is very public at times and hundreds of people will know by know that there are bees there. The association apiary is another site that people get to know about, and the late summer upland apiary is very public.

Both main sites have sympathetic people seeing the apiary from their windows and who would not hesitate to set the dogs on intruders and call the police. However losing the bees would be disastrous in either case.

There are companies selling branding irons, eg: http://www.mshaw.co.uk/brands.htm

They are expensive if you have one made to your own specifications (I saw £200+ for another company). However the outer hive boxes are easily disposed of - what thief in his right mind would hang on to them? So I simply write on the top of every brood frame at the association apiary with a black Magic Marker the 4 letters for the local association. The boxes get the same internally. When we sell bees the new owners will carry that mark for a few years but at least we will have records of who received our bees so no-one should worry about being falsely accused of receiving stolen goods. Some of my own frames are also marked, but Ems' experience is making me consider marking every one of my brood frames with my current postcode. Anyone stealing bees on marked frames has a real problem hiding all the traces. Of course there are ways of moving the bees onto new frames, and I do know of people who had sets of favoured queens stolen, but that sort of marking must discourage many thieves and leave evidence in other cases for bee inspectors to see.

I'd really like to see some prosecutions and individuals publically named and shamed. We all need to rid the beekeeping community of this kind of thing. I'll bet that someone locally has some suggestions for who may have taken yours Ems. Perhaps it is worth chatting to a local long-established, well-connected beekeeper, preferably with letters after his name, if you have not already done so.

One day I'll get one of those wildlife tracking movement-activated cameras and set that up at my apiary. Then the difficulty will be identifying the thief in a bee suit ....

[prakel]

Not recommending but tracking mobile phone software is available for example http://www.mobilelocate.co.uk/?gclid=CIG559CZ27YCFXDMtAodRzoA5g


ICKO (France) sell RFID tags and yearly registration...




Beetracking 100 chips

Ref. & NbspDI900

Protect your hive against theft.
Lot 100 RFID tags to
mark your hives.
Fleas can be hidden
in the timber, embedded in wax or
simply glued on a frame.
They allow authentication
and the hive can be placed
blacklisted immediately after signaling a flight.
The cost of the chip is 1.08 €.
The pack includes 100 chips, 5 outdoor stickers
deterrent Apiary supervised BEETRACKING ", 12 months
subscription to beetracking.com services. "


Not sure why something similar isn't available in the UK, the pricing shared between association members or groups of friends would possibly be a great investment.

[prakel]

There are some places where there has been such a thieving problem intermittently over several years, presumably when some incompetent and &%$£#@@!! beekeeper loses their bees again.

OK, no names or specific locations but... A few years back when working with A.N.Other Beekeeper we had colonies placed on certain military ranges. One day, a letter arrived in the post from the M.O.D Police informing us that they had taken it on themselves to include our apiaries in their regular 'rounds' because a well known individual suspected of previous bee thefts had been seen drinking in a couple of local pubs. A little further investigation showed that he had a long established reputation but the 'local' police had never been able to catch him.

[The Drone Ranger]

What about some thing like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Global-Real-Time-GPS-Tracker-A8-GSM-GPRS-GPS-Tracking-Device-and-SOS-Button-/261194161760?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item3cd0629e60
You need to visit hives once a week for swarm control

[Jon]

We had a theft locally (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/240000-honey-bees-taken-from-downpatrick-country-park-28877283.html) in October and that is very unusual in this part of the world.

I think these thefts are nearly always an inside job, ie someone in, or associated with the local association.
The theft I linked to above took place in daylight and a man in a beesuit was seen loading 4 colonies into a van, moving them one by one on a trolly.
He left one behind which was an old box falling apart. There are very strong suspicions as to who was responsible.

There was another case a couple of years ago where a box in spring in an association apiary was found to be missing the middle 4 or 5 frames which had the cluster on.
What happened in this case (they reckon) was that an old boy who had given a swarm to the association apiary two or three years prior lost his bees and just decided to take some back. Strange logic but we have many many beekeepers here who would not pay for bees under any circumstances.
Losses here have been very heavy this winter but my father's bees have come through the winter well.
He has already had people call and leave off equipment with the request to 'put any spare bees in there' or 'keep me a nuc'
Some of them are quite aggressive and they tell him he has too many bees at his age.
Payment at best is a packet of biscuits or a bottle of wine and these people lose their bees year in year out and expect bees for nothing every spring - from the beekeepers who feed their bees in autumn and treat for varroa. We still have beekeepers not treating for varroa and it is not the natural beekeeping people, just those who are too mean to spend a couple of quid on treatment or who can't be bothered.

I have been arguing for some time now that noone should be giving away bees as we have a reservoir of beekeepers who will never improve if they think then can replace bees free of cost every spring.

The problem with thefts is that they are hard to stop once they have started.
We had a real problem on our allotments at the end of last summer.
Two young guys were coming in at dusk about twice a week and loading up a van with produce.
They were dropped off and an accomplice would come back 45 minutes later.
each theft would involve maybe 4 or 5 barrow loads of produce and they stripped all the fruit and took the tomatoes out of the polytunnels.
They must have been selling the stuff door to door or via local market stalls.
last summer was a really difficult one for growers and it was heartbreaking to see some plots almost stripped overnight.

[Dark Bee]

[URL="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/240000-honey-bees-taken-from-downpatrick-country-park-28877283.html"]We had a theft locally........................................... .................................................. ........................ in October and that He has already had people call and leave off equipment with the request to 'put any spare bees in there' or 'keep me a nuc'
Some of them are quite aggressive and they tell him he has too many bees at his age.
.................................................. ........................last summer was a really difficult one for growers and it was heartbreaking to see some plots almost stripped overnight.

Jon, that is all very sad. Some people are destined to be parasites and have no shame.

[Jon]

Sad indeed but how do you stop it.
The allotment incidents were reported to the police but all they were bothered about was whether any of the allotment holders were likely to take the law into their own hands.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Emse
If there was more than one hive and they only took one that's probably a rogue beekeeper
Word of mouth even non beekeepers are interested nowadays in beehives
The old WW2 adage "loose talk costs hives"
Its most likely someone you have never met or heard of
Good access for vehicles etc is a two edged sword.
A quarter mile walk through rough ground might deter
Hives are valuable without bees these days
I wonder if non standard gear like the LDH I mentioned earlier or the huge brutes like the glenn hive are less attractive
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/glenhive.html

[The Drone Ranger]

Sad indeed but how do you stop it.
The allotment incidents were reported to the police but all they were bothered about was whether any of the allotment holders were likely to take the law into their own hands.

Don't think you can Jon
Just grow the weird ones like black or yellow carrots
yellow, green or black tomatoes
Ringed beetroots etc
they are not saleable the public run a mile
Purple potatoes http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318079/Sainsburys-healthy-purple-potatoes-taste-white-variety.html
haven't tried them though :)

[Trog]

All sorts of stuff is disappearing these days; I've even heard folk justifying it in terms of 'it's because of the recession', as if that somehow made it OK. We had a VAX go missing in between a well-known online company and here. Given that it was supposedly tracked all the way (it had a tracking number after it was despatched), theft en route is far more likely and someone got a nice Easter gift. The replacement, sent exactly the same way, arrived quickly.

[Jon]

The old WW2 adage "loose talk costs hives"[/url]

Problem is that the location of association apiaries is common knowledge.

I remember counting about 120 apideas at our mating site at the end of June last year.

1495

You could put that lot into the back of a car in about 20 minutes and a lot of them had mated queens as well.
They are over £30 each from Thorne, cheaper at Buzzy bee shop, but that would still be quite a haul.
In a civilized society, things have be be done on trust but there are always a few who try and buck the system.

It is different when you work in a developing country.
When I started working in Mexico I soon learned that anything left unguarded disappears in about 30 seconds.
This is not so much to do with the people themselves, but is more a factor of the level of development of a society.
If you don't look after your stuff you are regarded as stupid and fair game.
The logic I have heard is that, well If I don't take it, the next man along will do so, so I might as well take it myself.
Same logic applies to corruption and fraud.

It is a sad day though when this sort of thing is happening in Scotland or Ireland where the motive more than anything else must be greed of selfishness rather than economic necessity.

[Trog]

A notice at the apiary to the effect that the apiary has a certain type of security might be a useful deterrent. Something along the lines of 'These hives are protected by SmartBee Security Systems' or similar.

[gavin]

I doubt that would work at the Mull apiary now! ;)

[marion.orca]

One of the clauses in my agreement with the landowner of my apiary, was that I display a sign advising people that there was a working hive there. I personally saw this as "advertising" the fact that my hive was there, although it is placed well away from the publics access. I also have to display my name and address as owner, should anything untoward occur. I comply with their requests and place my home made sign - Honeybees at work - please respect your distance about a yard away from the hive itself. I have been advised that if I imply danger in the wording - i.e caution, danger etc. I am totally responsible should any "accidents " occur, hence the choice of words. Given what has happened to Emse, I am now quite happy that my sign is there [ though most people here know anyway ] but will now draft out a new one adding that it is under surveillance, as a deterrent - whether it is or not is beside the point - as it is off the beaten track. Branding sounds a good deterrent too, but rather than fork out a whole lot of money for a branding iron, you can buy a pyrography burner for around £25 and burn what you want onto your new frames etc. That's what I shall be doing with my new hive. It won't stop it, but it may help. so maybe people could ask around in their associations to find out if they already have a pyrographer in their midst who wouldn't mind helping out.

[The Drone Ranger]

will now draft out a new one adding that it is under surveillance, as a deterrent .

Try "Tresspassers will be shot !!
-----Survivors will be shot again !!"

[Trog]

We bought one of these as a soldering iron for the boat: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002LARRQW/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The pyrography attachment, hot knife, etc, come as part of the kit. Himself has tried the soldering iron and it's better than two he borrowed before so I'm happy to recommend it. We'll be marking our frames and hive parts.

Droney, I like your notice!

[Calum]

Aldi were selling these a while ago, wish I'd bought one.. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Trail+Camera+)

[EmsE]

I'd really like to see some prosecutions and individuals publically named and shamed. We all need to rid the beekeeping community of this kind of thing. I'll bet that someone locally has some suggestions for who may have taken yours Ems. Perhaps it is worth chatting to a local long-established, well-connected beekeeper, preferably with letters after his name, if you have not already done so.

One day I'll get one of those wildlife tracking movement-activated cameras and set that up at my apiary. Then the difficulty will be identifying the thief in a bee suit ....

That was the first phone call I made :) my concern was to make sure the other Beekeepers in the area were aware to be on their guard. Both Glasgow and Kilbarchan secretaries have let their members know and at Glasgows next meeting there is a suggestion that we add in a lesson on how to use a router instead of branding.

Whilst its bad getting my hive pinched, at least the bees are still alive. The reports of vandalised hives is far worse, colonies destroyed through acts of mindless violence is, well, abhorrent.

[gavin]

Mindless vandalism is appalling, but so is a planned theft by another beekeeper which seems to be what you experienced. As DR said, it looks like a rogue beekeeper. He (or she) is a menace and will do it again unless exposed. Perhaps next time they have heavy winter losses.

Vandals cause a lot of destruction and heartache. One of our more prominent beekeepers had one of his main apiaries last year first of all partially vandalised then on a return visit totally trashed. They used large rocks to smash all of the hives. I don't know how many he lost but there were often a dozen or so at that site. There is a fairly well-to-do housing development on the outskirts of Dundee marching up the hill and now a few hundred yards from the site. The site was well-protected with a locked gate and spiky scrub and bushes all round, but maybe the hawthorn along the field edge was getting a bit bare here and there.

Vandals are only (usually) local youths who might yet grow up and become reasonable citizens (of a sort) whereas your thief in the beekeeping community is a supposedly grown-up character who deserves no compassion in my view.

I still think that one of the simplest, cheapest and most effective deterrents is to Magic Marker your postcode onto each frame, on the upward facing side of the frame lug. Assuming the thief looks in, they'll see that they have a job ahead of them to remove the evidence which is hard to do on occupied frames, and they will know that once again we have an active bee inspection service who may come to call at any time. Boxes too, but the frames are more attractive to the security conscious thief especially the rogue keeper with empty boxes of his/her own. (Just felt obliged to add the 'her' - it'll be a him more than likely)

[Dark Bee]

[QUOTE=marion.orca;17631]........................I have been advised that if I imply danger in the wording - i.e caution, danger etc. I am totally responsible should any "accidents " occur, hence the choice of words.


The situation with dogs is broadly similar. If a notice says "Guard Dogs", "Beware", "Caution" or such like, then it can be argued that the dogs are known to be dangerous. If the notice says "Dogs Running Free", "We Live Here", etc, then it cannot be argued that they are known to be dangerous.
The essential difference being; the latter category can be shown to be for the benefit of the dog(s), whereas the former category are clearly for the benefit of callers to the property.
Have fun deciding what category this belongs to, "These Animals are Not Vegetarians" on a picture of two dobermanns.

[Bumble]

A few years ago we had a regular problem with somebody (probably some people) coming into our garden overnight and leaving unpleasant stuff behind. We reported it to the police who told us to make sure all gardening tools etc were carefully out of the way in case the intruders hurt themselves, because we could have been liable. They weren't interested in trying catch and stop them.

Bonkers world, don't you think!

Hives - I can't be a pyromaniac with mine, because they would melt, so a marking pen is the only option. Making them stand out as being different from the crowd of other hives is also, I think, a good idea. Maybe a natty bit of personalised graffiti?

[EmsE]

Mindless vandalism is appalling, but so is a planned theft by another beekeeper which seems to be what you experienced. As DR said, it looks like a rogue beekeeper. He (or she) is a menace and will do it again unless exposed. Perhaps next time they have heavy winter losses......
......Vandals are only (usually) local youths who might yet grow up and become reasonable citizens (of a sort) whereas your thief in the beekeeping community is a supposedly grown-up character who deserves no compassion in my view.

Good point. How would this sign be viewed?

"Honeybees at Work - Surveillance in Operation - Thieves WILL get Stung"

[gavin]

Nah, forget the pc stuff. 'Danger of Death - Honeybees at Work'.

And ... 'Bee Rustler? My 7'3“ Husband Runs a Private Detective Agency. Him and his 17 Rugby Club Mates WILL find you'



Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[Trog]

How about the old, 'Trespassers will wish they had only been prosecuted'?

Or, for bears of very little brain: 'Trespassers W'

[The Drone Ranger]

Try running off with this
http://www.outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/Museum/Museum23.htm

or this

http://www.outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/Museum/Museum8.htm

complete with totem poles :)

[Jimbo]

Hi DR,

Don't think much of the second hive as the grandchildren will want to play at 'houses' in it. Mind you if you lost your bees over winter you could still use it as a play thing in the garden

[Trog]

I doubt that would work at the Mull apiary now! ;)

Gavin, at least one Mull apiary is protected by 24 hour recorded CCTV (and I'm not saying which one!).

[marion.orca]

That must be in use Trog to protect the magnificent winged warriors !

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi DR,

Don't think much of the second hive as the grandchildren will want to play at 'houses' in it. Mind you if you lost your bees over winter you could still use it as a play thing in the garden

Your right there Jimbo it is massive


A small bee house screw all the broodboxes in place and padlock the door ?
http://www.honeyshop.co.uk/Bee.html

[Finno]

, "These Animals are Not Vegetarians" on a picture of two dobermanns"
Garage near me has picture of ferocious canine on notice which says "xxxx can reach the gate in three seconds - can you?"

P F

[Dark Bee]

One of the best I've seen said "Be aware we live here, keep the gate shut"

We have one the back door which says:

"Not sure if there is an afterlife ?
Break in and find out"

[The Drone Ranger]

Out Apiaries look out !

From what folk are telling me losses are very high sometimes total

we rely on people buying now from established sources and not from some geezer in the pub etc

[Jon]

I lost more than usual this winter and thought it was a disaster but I know quite a number of beekeepers who have lost all their colonies, 6 or 8 in some cases.
There are a few poor beekeepers who lose their bees every winter but this winter the competent beekeepers have had heavy losses as well.
Theft of bees is very unusual here. Vandalism is a bigger problem.

[Jimbo]

At our association after asking about 2/3rd of the membership about colony loses. We are running about 13% loses which is a bit higher than previous years but no major disaster's and we seem to have less loses than some associations

[The Drone Ranger]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191015/Royal-family-stung-rustlers-steal-5-000-beehives.html

Emse this was 2009 when the Queen was robbed of hives :)

[mbc]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191015/Royal-family-stung-rustlers-steal-5-000-beehives.html

Emse this was 2009 when the Queen was robbed of hives :)

Looks like a typical example of lazy journalism, furthest hive on the right has a migratory lid, ones I've only ever seen the like of in the New World ( correct me if I'm wrong !).

[The Drone Ranger]

Looks like a typical example of lazy journalism, furthest hive on the right has a migratory lid, ones I've only ever seen the like of in the New World ( correct me if I'm wrong !).
Lol!
I think either the queens hives had been nicked and there were none to photograph (or that may be one she takes round the commonwealth on her travels)

[Pete L]

Looks like a typical example of lazy journalism, furthest hive on the right has a migratory lid, ones I've only ever seen the like of in the New World ( correct me if I'm wrong !).

Ask Murray,ITLD, as the hives appear to of been his.

[The Drone Ranger]

So I see, not to worry then
The Scottish Government's £200,000 will be well spent

[The Drone Ranger]

You would hope that there would be some hi-tech tracking aid, but a fully charged mobile phone hidden in every hive doesn't sound like the answer. ....

I have a little device now that will ring your mobile if it picks up noise nearby
You can hear what is going on
You can just ring it at any time and listen to what is happening nearby
About 30mm X 30mm X 15mm thick
Trouble is the battery only lasts 1 week so having a think about how to modify
£13.99 it cost needs a phone sim card as well

[gavin]

That's a good start. Can you teach it - when it hears something - to crane its neck, look around, and send back some video of what's going on too?!

You can get little hobby solar panels for a fiver. I impulse bought a solar powered garden light for the allotment from Poundland for .... a pound.

[Bumble]

I impulse bought a solar powered garden light for the allotment from Poundland for .... a pound.

They're cheaper in the 99p shop!

[The Drone Ranger]

That's a good start. Can you teach it - when it hears something - to crane its neck, look around, and send back some video of what's going on too?!

You can get little hobby solar panels for a fiver. I impulse bought a solar powered garden light for the allotment from Poundland for .... a pound.

No but it has a little SOS button that rings you as soon as its pressed so I'm going to do a little bit of fiddling to see if when the hive is lifted the button can be activated I think I can arrange a meatier battery 1538 and a triggering mechanism

It doesn't matter much whether you see someone nicking your hive or hear them you still have to get there and stop them :)

[beestripes]

There is someone on our apiary site who has recently branded their boxes.
It'd help more if they shut and locked the gates behind them when they trundled off to the far ends of the place.

[The Drone Ranger]

There is someone on our apiary site who has recently branded their boxes.
It'd help more if they shut and locked the gates behind them when they trundled off to the far ends of the place.

Hi Beestripes

It's great you have a secure site
Must be frustrating though when the gate is left open
Are your hives near the entrance where they can be sneaked out ?

[beestripes]

Hi Beestripes

It's great you have a secure site
Must be frustrating though when the gate is left open
Are your hives near the entrance where they can be sneaked out ?

No they're tucked away out of sight, but that would make it easier perhaps for someone to get them ready to move. There is one person in particular who thinks it is OK to leave the gates wide open though and disappear for an hour.

[The Drone Ranger]

You need one of those alarms that go off until the gate is closed Like on a fire door