$1mil in stolen bees recovered...so now bee stealing is a thing

[SticksnStones]

Fresno authorities say they’ve uncovered the biggest beehive theft they’ve ever seen. They recovered nearly a $1 million worth of bees belonging to a dozen victims.

Sgt. Arley Terrence of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department Agricultural Crimes Task Force said detectives got a tip about some stolen hives.

When they showed up at an orchard on the outskirts of town, they found 51-year-old Pavel Tveretinov in a beekeeper suit tending to a motley assortment of beehives.

“It was like a chop shop of stolen bees,” Terrence said Thursday. “There were just lots and lots of different bee boxes.”

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/05/19/nearly-1-million-in-stolen-bees-recovered-in-fresno/

[mercuryblues]

1. Was it a sting operation?

[SticksnStones]

3. Oooh, nice!

[dalton99a]

7. +1

[malaise]

8. Sorry Honey - Now I miss Pinboy3niner

hehehehehhe

[Wounded Bear]

9. Don't we all?

But that was the bee's knees.

[malaise]

12. Yep

big time

[mercuryblues]

13. I though of him

after I wrote that.

[malaise]

14. We all did after we read it

[Foamfollower]

2. The only thing odd about this is the scale.

Bees are big business, of course they are stolen from time to time.

[SticksnStones]

4. Never occurred to me that a person would want to steal a beehive

Myself, I see a bee I'm planning my escape route!

[hatrack]

5. They're not getting any cheaper . . .

A three-pound package with a queen (standard starter for a new hive) costs about $140 this year - up from less than $100 five or six years ago.

[SticksnStones]

6. I guess that makes it even more profitable to steal them. nt

[Wounded Bear]

10. Bee rustling, now?

What next?

[dalton99a]

11. Honey makes money: