THAT STINGS

Thieves Make Off With More Than 800K Bees

The beekeepers say the thefts cost them tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of revenue.

More than 800,000 bees have been stolen in Australia after thieves made off with dozens of colonies from three different commercial beekeepers. The first noticed 14 empty beehives, each containing about 15,000 bees, at this property in North Queensland on Sept. 10. Over the next two days, another 27 empty hives turned up at a separate property. The brood nests, where the queen lays her eggs and the young bees develop, had been gutted, and the hives were put back together, making it look from a distance like they were still intact. Police suspect the perpetrator, who used special equipment, is an experienced beekeeper involved in some type of commercial activity. The thefts resulted in tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of lost property and pollination income. Beekeeper Jack Laughton told ABC News he was “completely gutted because the amount of work that goes in preparing beehives to a good quality, to a high standard, is quite a lot of work.” He said it was a “shock” to open a hive expecting it to be full of healthy bees, and instead it’s empty.