Beekeepers Employ Anti-theft Technology to Combat Hive Thefts

Three hives carrying roughly 60,000 bees were recently stolen from a grocery store's garden in central Pennsylvania, according to reports. Bees are in high demand during the world's largest pollination event, hence these events take place on a greater scale and exclusively in California at this time of year. 

As recently as a few weeks ago, authorities recorded the theft of 1,036 beehives from orchards around the state. Beekeepers in Mendocino County are offering a $10,000 prize for information leading to the return of 384 beehives that were stolen from a field. 

Another beekeeper, Helio Medina, lost 282 hives last year, and investigators found honeycomb frames belonging to him.

In response to the theft, Medina installed GPS trackers inside the hive boxes this year. In addition, he secured them with wire locks and installed surveillance cameras in the area. He patrolled the orchards at night as the almond blossom approached and the hives became more valuable. 

Most thefts occur at night, when the orchard is deserted and the bees have returned to their colonies.

Typically, the rustler is a beekeeper or someone who has experience transporting bees. As a Butte County sheriff's investigator who has been keeping track of hive thefts since 2013, Rowdy Jay Freeman says that more often than not, they steal to make money and leave the bees to perish. 

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Rise in Pollination Fees

Beekeepers are likely to go rogue due to a shrinking supply of bees and rising pollination prices, which have increased from less than $50 to rent a hive two decades ago to as much as $230 per hive this year.

California has been the world's largest almond grower in the last 20 years, and bee populations have expanded in tandem. Almonds are now grown on an estimated 1.3 million acres of land, an increase of more than two-thirds (526,000 hectares), as per New York Post. 

A rising percentage of the nation's available hives is being supplied by beekeepers, who are maintaining pace with this expansion. In order to pollinate all almond orchards, a survey of commercial beekeepers projected that it would take 90% of the honeybee colonies in the United States. 

A University of California at Davis agricultural economist says that beekeepers are traveling from as far away as New York and Florida, and pollination fees have to go up to entice them. Bee populations, on the other hand, are unstable due to a wide range of issues, such as disease, lack of habitat and insecticides. 

How Drought Affect Beekeeping 

Last summer's drought, which hit Western states hard, had a knock-on effect on colonial populations. Wildflowers that produce nectar for bees have been decimated by the lack of rain. Keepers had to artificially augment their diet with sugar solutions and pollen replacements, resulting in increased expenditures for the beekeeping industry. 

Due to the drought, beekeepers spend close to $210 renting a beehive every year and almost the same amount to feed the bees. In addition to providing complete benefits to their employees, they conduct all the health checks themselves, which is time-consuming, Tauzer remarked. 

For the sake of her clients, Qualls teamed up with Bee Hero, a software startup, to install GPS-enabled sensors in the hive boxes of her clients. Beekeepers should utilize security cameras and label their hives with their names and phone numbers, according to Freeman, who got into beekeeping after looking into his first hive theft. 

He added other beekeepers have utilized SmartWater CSI, a forensic instrument used by police to assist them locate recovered stolen property, to tag their boxes. The clear liquid is only visible under UV light, even through layers of paint, so police can identify the legal owner even if the boxes are disguised by criminals. 

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