# Hives stolen , recovered



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Here we go again.....:no:
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1663&ck=E449B9317DAD920C0DD5AD0A2A2D5E49


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

people like that make me sick to my stomach!!!!! what is wrong with the world today? i would like to know how low of a person you have to be to steal someone else's property and endanger their livelihood. if i ever had that happen to me i honestly do not know what would happent to the other person if i caught them! glad we are staying out of Cali.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

gregstahlman said:


> glad we are staying out of Cali.


Me too.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I will third that. I would rather make 1/3 less without Almonds and the risk of losing my bees.


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## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

Thieves, in some far off country across the pond, they used to cut your hand off if you got caught stealing,......there's a few over there missing one hand but very few missing both hands


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## Mtn. Bee (Nov 10, 2009)

Sounds like time for an old fashioned HANGING! 
That would make those ---------- think twice! :thumbsup:


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## Mtn. Bee (Nov 10, 2009)

Oh, by the way Keith where do you want me to deliver those 10,000 colonies at?


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## dixiebooks (Jun 21, 2010)

I never could stand a thief. -james


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Mtn. Bee said:


> Oh, by the way Keith where do you want me to deliver those 10,000 colonies at?


LOL......

Hey MTN Bee, on a more serious note, I had a whole load stolen(168) back in the ninties, I caught the guy two months later with my brands, the farmer picked the theif out of a line up, the D.A. drug him in to court twice then let him go, he said he did not have enough to to evidence to hold him. The local sheriff told me you were treated like a poor phesant.

I wish the guys down south the best of luck in hanging him!


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Thats funny ,Keith

I wonder who the culprit is?

By the way,since Ca is bk, and the prisons are over crowded, my bet is he/she/they only get probation


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

loggermike said:


> Thats funny ,Keith


Well, I think your in the minorty group, Mike


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I meant your reply to Greg was funny, not that some jerk stole your hives!

What ever happened in that theft case last year?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

loggermike said:


> What ever happened in that theft case last year?


The one by elk-grove, nothing that I have heard, we are next too the rust at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to law enforcement.


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## bhfury (Nov 25, 2008)

I've thought of this a few times, but really have never done anything about it....so here it goes.

I've bought hives/boxes/bees from a variety of people. A couple hundred hives. The hives and frames are branded with their name and others who they got them from. Should I grind off the old and put my contact info on them? Should I just leave them as it as the other owners have done, because they are in good shape? Or is there another option? What I do is, as I bring them in from the field, for one reason or another (deadouts, harvesting, etc) I will repaint the boxes and put my contact info on them, but some boxes have been out in the field for years without being updated.

A couple things I have done to hopefully to stop thieves, is to put my bees in locations where, they can't be seen from the road, are a little tough to get to, and since I'm an ex-cop, I tell local law enforcement where they are so they will keep an eye on them for me when they are in the area.

I'm buying a couple hundred more split after almond season and I know these hives will have the guy I'm buying them from info on them. He runs 20,000 hives.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Every beek that ever bought used equipment will have someone elses brand somewhere. Just make sure you get a receipt that notes any ID markings to cover yourself.Its illegal to alter a brand, but hives do get painted.

Here is another story about the same theft with a video. Seems there are more hives missing.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/ag_watch&id=7890920


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Another futher note on that, We/I bought wildlife cameras, the infer-red flash ones, we have four carmeras per yard site. Walmart sells these cameras at there sporting department.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Good tip,Keith .Thanks.


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## bhfury (Nov 25, 2008)

Thanks Mike and good info Keith.


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

You can also rent plastic pallets from a company named iGPS. I think they have a website. Every pallet has 4 RFID chips in it. They can track the pallets from miles away. 

Another trick is to use K-9 or Equine RFID chips. They cost about $50 each, but put one or two in the edge of a few hives (drill a tiny hole, slide it in, putty the hole.) and you have proof of your ownership, whether the brands are altered or not. This will not allow you to track them, but will at least help you get them back once you find them.

GPS systems are getting smaller and smaller, but the real issue with them is the charging the battery.

Hope this helps!


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Keith....the thief just better be glad it wasnt my bees he stole.....he would have been better off being in jail and the da would have caught my rath also....th problem is alot (most) of us wont stand up to attorneys or judges..after all judges and da are OUR employees and I tend to make sure they know that.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

I hear you SuttonBee, I had the Sacramento Bee news paper involed, KFBK radio ( where Rush, Tom Sullavin got started) AP had the story in the SFC and across Calif. I fought everywhere I could.

Heck, just ask the NHB, they know who I am.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

There was a case in my country involving a ex prisoner, and a less competent beekeeper.

The beekeeper discovered a multi hive AFB outbreak, inspects all his hives and moves everything with AFB to one site for a mass burning.

Meantime a guy who did a beekeeping course in prison and just got released, steals them. Of course nobody knows where they went but turns out they were distributed to a number of sites.

The next year there's a big AFB outbreak in the area. 

They did catch the guy but he's cost people a lot of time and money.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

It seems like every year there are hives stolen just before almond bloom.I have had a few individual MIAs over the years, but nothing on this scale.It really irritates me knowing how vulnerable we are to these kind of heists.

As law enforcement is being cut back in California more people will be packing for self defense.Not gonna be a good time to turn to crime.

I'm happy they caught this one .


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## TSADAM13 (Jan 19, 2011)

Has anyone ever tried "tagging" thier hives. I was thinking about a technology I have used before for unrelated tracking, but then I did a search and found "Hive Alert" It's owned by a guy named Bromenshek, turns out he's the same guy who claimed to have solved CCD, but then more reading on him found that he worked as a consultant for the same company that was being sought damages for CCD, Bayer-Crop. So I guess he went told everyone it was anything but Bayer-Crop. Conflict of Intrest there I suppose... 

Anyone ever tried that tech?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Keith Jarrett said:


> Another futher note on that, We/I bought wildlife cameras, the infer-red flash ones, we have four carmeras per yard site. Walmart sells these cameras at there sporting department.


Good idea, never thought about that. Guess I better rethink my plans to do some undercover work to find out your hidden secrets.:shhhh: The chips are probably the future though used with a sign warning that they are in the hives. We have used the signs and also the chips. We put them in all the hives or maybe just in some of the hives or maybe not at all hmmm darn it sometimes I just forget.:scratch: 
Why am I reminded of this?

"Well kid do you feel lucky?" Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry on whether there was one more bullet left in his gun.


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## Mtn. Bee (Nov 10, 2009)

I was thinking more on the line of fully auto weapons all camo'd out with lazer beam activated triggering systems. 
Break the Beam, Smile and Wait for the Flash!  
Then again I would be repairing a lot of wooden ware that would resemble blocks of swiss cheese! :doh:

More work, don't need that!


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## chillardbee (May 26, 2005)

Here is the bee sentry site

http://beealert.blackfoot.net/~beealert/hivesec/sentry.php

We've never experienced theft in our yards but I think this could be a trendy thing to have in our yards. Using a service like this and getting daily updates on everything like weather temp, wind, how much rain, hive wieght, ect. could be used for record keeping and even research. 

I've been thinking about branding my DL# on the inside of the hives too, the proof is in the pudding type of thing. A member of the RCMP had told me once that there's a better chance at recovering an item that has a stratigically place DL# (hidden, only you know where it is). 

I like the idea of cam survalence too.


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