Thieves Make Off With 800K Bees

Far north Queensland's hives are facing a new threat: bee thieves. An estimated 800,000 bees making up 44 colonies have been taken from three properties west of Cairns, in what apiarist Tom Bidner describes as the biggest theft in memory, per the Guardian. Rather than snatching whole hives, thieves allegedly used trucks and specialist gear to quietly remove brood boxes and swap frames, leaving honey and hive exteriors in place to avoid detection. Bidner suspects his bees were taken in an operation that took multiple people and "a couple of hours," per ABC Australia.

Police suspect a commercial operator is behind the thefts, which could cost beekeepers and growers tens of thousands of dollars in lost pollination work during peak avocado season, on top of the value of the bees and the honey they produce. The hits come as beekeepers battle the spread of varroa mite, one of the world's most damaging honey bee pests, with researchers racing to develop new treatments. "It's just a double whammy for us at the moment," Bidner tells ABC, estimating his losses at at least $30,000. Police are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.