Bee rustling is the term for theft of honey bees, analogous to cattle rustling. It has been reported in Western Canada, the Western United States, and the United Kingdom. A 2014 theft in California was valued at US$65,000, and a December 2016 theft of 300 bee colonies in Texas was valued at $90,000. Bees and honey worth $100,000 were stolen from a farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia in 2012. The California State Beekeepers Association offers a $10,000 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of a bee rustler.
Modern Farmer, The Guardian and others ascribe the increase in this crime to higher honeybee values after colony collapse disorders started c. 2006.
See also
References
- ^ Brian Elsasser (October 20, 2014), "Farm Crime: To Catch a Bee Rustler", Modern Farmer
- Doyin Oyeniyi (January 11, 2017), "Forget Cattle Rustling—Watch Out For Bee Rustlers", Texas Monthly subtitle $90,000 of bees were stolen from a Danbury resident as bee rustling is on the rise.
- Dana Guthrie (January 9, 2017), "'Bee rustlers' make off with 300 colonies in Brazoria County", Houston Chronicle
- Hives containing 500,000 bees stolen in B.C.: Large-scale bee colony thefts also reported in Alberta, New Zealand, CBC, July 30, 2012
- John Cox (February 3, 2016), "Beekeepers fall victim to theft as hive rental prices rise", The Bakersfield Californian
- Brett Murphy (May 17, 2016), "Sticky fingers: The rise of the bee thieves", The Guardian
- Ryan Haas (April 16, 2014), A New Western Outlaw: The Bee Rustler, Seattle: KUOW-FM
- Lorraine Boissoneault, The Sting: Fighting the Rise of Bee Rustlers, Weather.com, archived from the original on April 16, 2021
- Bee rustlers add to misery of struggling hive owners, BBC, May 25, 2013