Posted: Fri Aug 04, 23 5:44 pm Post subject: bee rustlers
14 hives from a welsh hillside, i have heard of it but that is a lot in one go, selling bees in the pub might be a bit awkward so they must be somewhere they were not a few days ago
any "new" bees round your areas?
oddly marketed honey?
It has happened before. A hive is worth a bit of money although not sure how they sell them. As you say, buying it in the pub is a bit off. Very sad for the beekeeper.
It is the bees as well that are worth the money. I don't know how much they would get for them as we have never bought a colony, only either a queen, who comes with a few workers. When we started, and that was about 40 year ago, we were given the nucleus I think. That is usually bees taken in a swarm. There isn't a full colony there, as only some of the bees follow the queen leaving enough to continue with the old colony. Since then we have built up using swarms. At present we only have one or two in the wood, as all husbands energy is taken up with the wood and odd jobs in the house.
The rustlers may have had one customer, or possibly a number wanting one or two hives each. It is also possible that they took them to hire out to farmers to pollinate crops, but unlikely at this time of year.
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