Good people,
Our local paper reports that approximately 60 nuke hives were stolen from a commercial bee keeper from near Benalla in North East Victoria, last week. Because the timing coincides with me, and i assume, lots of other people getting their Flow Hives delivered. i hope they were not stolen to supply the demand for new hive owners wanting to buy bees for their new hobby. I have no idea how anyone could prove that the bees they purchase are not stolen. i suppose just ask lots of questions.
Any ideas??
its a good idea to mark the top bars with your post code. It doesn’t prevent somebody trying to erase it but you would be able to spot the tampering. How many people would buy bees if they suspected they were nicked? More than you might believe I’m afraid. Thieving gits are a problem in the uk as so many beekeeper keep their hives away from home. I would expect flow hives wil be a target too.
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Hi Dee
Your thoughts worry me about Flow Hives being on the hit list for theft. I still have a long wait to receive mine (April) but have already marked the ground with an X, where I am to place it and unfortunately this is in my front yard beside my house. Have a 3/4 acre block in the Blue Mtns (west of Sydney, OZ). I just hope that the thieving bastards stay down the in basin or at least get their arses stung off in any such attempt.
Hive theft is problem here in the states as well, especially in California when most large commercial operators ship their bees to the almond groves for the winter season to help with pollination, yet beehive should be marked with a stamp in the wood. Problems arise if you have had hives with your name on it, but the boxes were owned by someone else prior and their old namr ground out and yours applied. California Sheriff’s will confiscate those kinds of boxes. Anthoer problem with shippers sending bees to california is death or semi trucks wrecking and spilling a load of hives, not as uncommon as one might think. I am not big enough yet to send bees west, but as it goes regarding topic at hand, nucs getting stolen aren’t the same as flow frames getting stolen but for the high cost of the frames will probably make them fair game for thieves and they could resell them for half and still make a ton of money. Yet there haven’t been any commercial buyer yet buying flow frames in quantity to my knowledge. I wouldn’t tell anyone where those boxes with flow frames would be placed though. NOT EVER!