Hunt for thief who stole 14 beehives with hundreds of thousands of bees inside
Fourteen beehives containing hundreds of thousands of bees have been stolen in the North Wales countryside.
The theft was reported at a remote property near the town of Llangollen this week and is believed to have taken place on Saturday or Sunday.
Police described the incident as ‘a bit of an unusual one’.
The culprit likely has knowledge of beekeeping and took the hives late at night, when the bees return inside their colonies, detectives added.
‘Fourteen hives have gone so it’s likely to be a vehicle similar to a long wheelbase Ford Transit or a trailer,’ PCSO Iwan Owen, of the North Wales Rural Crime team, said.
He urged anyone to get in touch if they aware of anyone with ‘a sudden influx of beehives (or) someone who’s starting to sell new hives, please get in touch’.
The number of bees stolen is not known, though the British Beekeepers Association says colonies house around 35,000 to 40,000 bees each in summertime.
Police said the owner had lost thousands of pounds’ worth of bees and honey.
A typical hive can produce more than 30kg of honey a year, which could be worth hundreds of pounds depending on the quality of the product.
An experienced beekeeper from nearby Wrexham said the loss would end up being ‘catastrophic’ over time.
Cathy Williams told BBC News: ‘If it was a bee farmer – it was 14 hives that were stolen – that would make a big punch in his profits for the year, a huge punch and it would set him right back to next year.
‘It’s because the colony goes on from year to year, season to season through its lifecycle and if you’ve lost all those bees, you’re not going to have honey from those colonies next year, it’s really very serious.
‘If they are hobby beekeepers like me then you have lost everything. It’s a terrible blow.’
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