Combatting hive theft
I was surprised to read the news this week coming out of the UK about opportunists taking advantage of the bee keeping market. Thieves have set their sight on hives with around 135 hives reported stolen in the past six years, that adds up to a huge amount of bees. Martin Smith of the British Beekeepers Association says, ‘a colony of bees that a few years ago might have sold for £25.00 can now sell for £200.’ Read the full article here from the Telegraph.
What surprises and saddens me is bee keeping usually attracts gentle environmentally friendly peace loving folks unfortunately now thieves have realised its a thriving industry and like any other commodity it’s open for abuse. It’s so upsetting for a bee keeper to nurture a colony and see it through all the stages of honey production only then for thieves to violate people’s rights and passion. I personally know bee keepers who have suffered at the hands of thieves and honestly it’s horrible not just the financial cost but the time, effort and love that’s gone into the craft. It would be amazing if technology could play a role in order to protect hives or alert bee keepers through sensors and GPS tracking. Lets hope we find a tech savvy bee keeper to introduce this system.
