"The honey was left untouched": 800,000 bees stolen in Australia

"Honey untouched": 800,000 bees stolen in Australia

In the Australian state of Queensland, 800,000 bees valued at tens of thousands of dollars have been stolen.

The beekeeping industry was already in a difficult situation in early September due to the varroa mite. According to Tom Bidner, a beekeeper in the Atherton area, a total of 44 bee colonies were taken from the farms of three beekeepers.

According to his calculations, there were at least 20,000 bees in each hive, totaling more than 800,000 bees. It is assumed that the thefts were committed at several farms in different areas. Such work requires a careful plan and special equipment.

Instead of taking the entire hive, the thieves took the frames from the box where the young bees were located. Because of this, the hive looked unchanged from a distance.

"In fact, they come in a truck with a lot of equipment and transfer our frames into their own boxes... As a result, none of the farmers suspect that someone came in and did such a thing," Bidner said.

The thieves did not take the honey left in the beehive. It is assumed that they might be representatives of the industry.

In addition to the stolen bees, beekeepers also lose pollination contracts worth thousands of dollars. Growers, on the other hand, suffer losses because the flowers are not sufficiently pollinated. Bidner said that while this is not the first time such a theft has occurred, it is the largest in his memory.

Currently, the avocado season is underway in northern Queensland. Therefore, beehives are placed in the fields of local growers under contract to pollinate the flowers.

"In terms of security, in the past we used to leave most of this work to the bees themselves... sometimes if someone came and tried to tamper with the hive for about 30 seconds, they would then run away," Bidner said.