# hive vandalism



## 1toomanyhobbies (Jul 9, 2010)

Can put a motion detecting deer camera in view of the hives but otherwise concealed. I may sound crazy but you might be surprised as to what you find.


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## WVaBees (Jul 2, 2010)

That's really not a bad idea 1too...I have worked in LE since 2000 and on more then one occasion after a property owner got tired of trespassers and destruction of property they did the very same thing and more than once the person(s) committing the crime were captured on camera and eventually charged criminally.

Or put up a big sign saying the hives contain African KILLER bees, Stay OUT!!!


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## kenr (Sep 25, 2005)

WVaBees said:


> That's really not a bad idea 1too...I have worked in LE since 2000 and on more then one occasion after a property owner got tired of trespassers and destruction of property they did the very same thing and more than once the person(s) committing the crime were captured on camera and eventually charged criminally.
> 
> Or put up a big sign saying the hives contain African KILLER bees, Stay OUT!!!


And to reinforce the perception get a dead dog and put it in your yard LOL!!


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Of course Greg. Every so often. Once some AHs knockes over the entire yard. Used the rocks to smash the nucs to pieces. Called the cops. Cop came. Yard is 1/4 mile up hill, through mud hole, through cedars...cop wants to drive. I invite him to ride with me and the hound. No dice! He'll drive. Never makes it through the mud hole. HAS to ride with me and the hound. Get to the yard. Cop won't leave the cab of the truck. Scared s**tless. I get him out of the mud hole and he says he'll call. I never hold my breath.

And how about just last month. AHs again. In my cell building yard this time. Drive through the yard with their truck. Tip over cell builders. Kill cells. Cells never emerge in mating nucs. Lots of effed up mating nucs.

Gotta be a duck and let the water roll off your back.


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Does insurance cover this? Do beekeepers on the commercial side all carry that sort of insurance or only liability insurance?


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

well the reason i bring this up is i was in this one yard today and it brought back some bad memories. about 8 years ago a certain individual decided to take his tractor and knock about 20 hives over. after we had picked up that mess it was just a few days later that this same person decided to put phostoxin tablets in the entrance of the hives. we lost over 70 hives right before the honey flow. his house is located about 4 miles from the yard so it's not like the bees were sitting in his back yard.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

we have had minor problems, intentional and not. Lumberjack fells a tree on a few hives. A few hives get tipped over in winter. A couple of bored deer hunters sight in on the handhole. Nothing significant. Worst was 30 years ago when the dump caught fire and spread over to the beeyard.

Yard placement can help or curb vandalism. It really helps to be on good terms with the landowners.

Roland


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## Rob73 (Apr 19, 2009)

I had a relative with a trespassing problem. To keep hunters out, he put up a gate. They drove around the gate. So, he put some nice screws through a 2x4 and planted em on each side of the gate. He immediately found the trespasser. Who carries two spares.....nobody...

Personally, if I did that, they would come back with a vengeance. The camera thing sounds like the best idea. 

Rob


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Greg...I know this sounds bad, but your neighbor probably wouldnt have a house there now if I was you. I have had some (bad words) drive a big tired pick up over 6 pallets amking kindling wood out of them....I just made a bondfire. THis year some(badword) 
tipped over four hives with a small tired car....both had 2 deeps honey. I put down 2x4's with spikes in them to flatten ires..so far they havent returned. Onehive got robbed out, one died out/beetlemess. the other two are ok.


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## beekeeper1 (Jan 31, 2010)

If your pockets are deep enough purchase the camera that sends the pictures directly back to your computer. That way if they spot the camera and destroy it, take the card out, it has already sent the pictures back to your computer.


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## WVaBees (Jul 2, 2010)

gregstahlman said:


> well the reason i bring this up is i was in this one yard today and it brought back some bad memories. about 8 years ago a certain individual decided to take his tractor and knock about 20 hives over. after we had picked up that mess it was just a few days later that this same person decided to put phostoxin tablets in the entrance of the hives. we lost over 70 hives right before the honey flow. his house is located about 4 miles from the yard so it's not like the bees were sitting in his back yard.


Some good camo and a few loads of rock salt should take care of that problem


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## festus (Jul 27, 2010)

yes sir strap on the six shooter and go out yonder and take care of the problem


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Several years back I had 170 hives pollinating squash.
One of the sets of hives were WAY, WAY back in the field at the edge of forest land.
I remember thinking when I delivered them about how safe these hives were, so far away from people.
When the day came to retrieve the hives, something caught my eye.
It was so unusual that it did not immediatly register.
"Why are there chunks of wood missing from these hives?"
Well, then it sunk in; some knucklehead had shot up this group of hives.
And they were not aiming at the hand holds or any thing else; they just blazed away.
Here is a picture of some that I had just boomed onto my truck:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Shallotman/DSC00377.jpg

The bees made it through just fine, but I had to replace quite a few frames in the next year.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

ouch!!!!!! yeah that difinately hurts. my favorite is when a yard gets burned down. lol i could keep naming stuff all day long


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

_"Why are there chunks of wood missing from these hives?"
Well, then it sunk in; some knucklehead had shot up this group of hives._

Woodpeckers can do a number on hives too.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

It's a shame for everyone involved. One incident like this or a single gunshot cow can result in hundreds of acres of land becoming inaccessible to hunters, fishermen, or just kids that should be free to play in the woods and fields. When I was a kid you could wander anywhere and never see a no trespassing sign - now I have them myself. Sad.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

Build a fence like ours, attach a solar fencer to the fence, get the good 5000+ volts out of it...it can be done....
put the charger in the yard, about a foot off the ground
make sure the gate is charged, attach a chain and lock to the gate
then remember your rubber hose to open the gate. (My husband put a slider pin in the gate and into the post.

Is it fair we should fortiefy our bee yards like this because of idiots who have nothing better to do? No it is not. But think of it this way...no skunk and no bear, as long as the fencer is charged!

However the tractor would be an issue. I would put diamond harrows upside down at the land entrance. Remind yourself not to drive over them.
If it is not your land, get some old diamond harrows and place them around your yard...you need to remember they are there!


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## georgiabeekeeper (Sep 14, 2004)

I have had some hives to get shot up before with it looks like buckshot cause they would be blown up pretty good.They were way out in the woods where no one is around for miles in a deer hunting club but of course none of them knew anything about it.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

well looks like i jinxed myself by starting this thread. got a call yesterday from the sheriff saying that some hives had got knocked over. haven't had any problems like this for over 2 years. looks like somebody had a lil fun with their pickup. they did however leave behind a mirror and some glass from their headlights. they knocked over 8 hives and managed to ruin about 20 boxes and maybe about 100 frames. 4 hives were beyond saving. 










more pics of damage here:
http://s794.photobucket.com/albums/yy230/gregstahlman/2010%20honey%20crop/


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## WVaBees (Jul 2, 2010)

That crap makes me sick to think about and it isn't even my stuff. I still cannot believe even after being in law enforcement for 10 years that there is such a disregard for other people's property by others. At the hobbyist level it's one thing but if you are at the level were those hives are your livelihood, god help the person(s) if I caught them destroying my stuff costing me money and taking food off my families table.


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## Rob73 (Apr 19, 2009)

Yep, some people just don't have any respect for other peoples stuff. That, plus, most people don't understand what a struggle it is to keep bees alive. Who ever knocked those hives over, probably didn't think it was any big deal. 

"Those bees, will probably just get in one of those other hives, looks like there are plenty around." People think stuff like that. They probably got a good laugh at how pissed the bees were, and had no idea of the mess they were making, or the money they were costing. 

Just plain ignorance......

Speaking of ignorance, where are the entrances on those migratory hives? Do they have a regular bottom board, I can never tell from the pictures......


Rob


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Kinda looks like my hives did in Florida this year...I lost 2 of the four, about 6 frames and two hive bodies 1 super. I plan on putting boards with spikes in my beeyards that are close to road in future...hopefully I'll get all four tires if they return. My idiot must have been in a small car or PU....tire prints were narrow. Four yrs ago must havebeen a big tired truck...ran over 24 hive leaving 20 to havea weiner raost with...nothing but kindling wood. On the good side looks like a good crop if they are full of honey


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

> I still cannot believe even after being in law enforcement for 10 years that there is such a disregard for other people's property by others.


It's absolutely shocking isn't it? I've been watching this trend in society for several years now and it seems to only be getting worse.


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## Skinner Apiaries (Sep 1, 2009)

rick, we found 4-6 inch ply scrap is the best. a 2 3/4 nail is perfect, using our nail gun it takes about 15 seconds to make them from junk. We painted (some) but found its just as effective when some moron is drunk anyway, and dosent notice til after theyre flat.

We've had people give us permission to set hives, and POOF 40 trespassing signs were suddenly put up, since he apparently wasn't the land owner, pretty funny, we were 10 feet from the right guys property line.

Had some hives burned, and Ill just say we got even on that one. I don't care about criminal charges for destroyed gear, its about money. Civil issues. Putting someone in jail hardens their positions and takes money from them that their lazy ... could be using to pay back a civil suit!

The best thing Ive been able to do to prevent vandalism is place out of sight, and my best yards have approaches by land owner's homes. Some of my gated ones actually had more issues than the those squirreled away down overgrown ungated roads, usually land managers or the like wanted to burn them, even with written permission to place them. And as always, I always 'make' a yard in the underbrush when available (Go bobcat Go! Always knew I needed that forestry cab!). If you see my hives, without an airplane, at my honey yards, I feel insecure.


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## be lote (Mar 26, 2008)

broadcast some simplex nails. the old metal heads if you can find em.


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