Bee vandalism

[DCM]

I bet theses vandals have no clue how valuable Bees are tho the whole ecosystem! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Vandals destroy 50 beehives in Iowa, killing at least 500,000 bees

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The future of a honey business in Sioux Falls, Iowa, is uncertain after vandals destroyed dozens of their beehives, CBS affiliate KMEG reports. The owners of Wild Hill Honey said they discovered that 50 beehives were destroyed when they went to clear off snow on Thursday.

The owner, Justin Engelhardt, told KMEG that the incident basically wipes out his business and that it will be impossible to recover from. He said that thousands of bees died from vandalism.

"I knew it was going to be bad we went around the shed every hive was knocked over, dead bees in the snow, it was terrible," Englehardt said, adding that the couple's shed was also damaged in the incident. He said a window was broken and the lock was damaged.

Engelhardt said there was a security camera installed but it stolen during the incident. Police told the station they discovered fingerprints at the scene and an investigation is ongoing.

Engelhardt told The Associated Press that at least 500,000 bees were killed in the incident, and that the estimated cost of damage was between $50,000 and $60,000.

[Reddirt62]

Sad situation....I understand that folks hate what they fear but this is way off the reservation in response to said fear.....[emoji22]

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[reddog81]

I saw this on my local news and can't imagine what the heck those vandals were thinking. Hopefully they catch the fools who did this and give them more than a slap on the wrist.

[lefty o]

it was probably someone else local also in the bee business.

[Beerd]

it was probably someone else local also in the bee business.

I would hope not. If true, they will soon be in the license plate making business.
..

[NoZombies]

Or someone with a personal vendetta agains the business owner.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Or someone with a personal vendetta agains the business owner.

I agree.
Usually vandalism is a crime of opportunity when miscreants have nothing better to do.
there is a video at this link
http://whotv.com/2017/12/29/vandals-destroy-beehives-killing-500000-bees/
This appears to be a farm off the beaten track...You'd have to want to go there to do damage, I can't imagine anyone was just wandering by and randomly vandalize these hives and shed.

[Boaz]

Vandalism with only the intention to make others suffer is an act of pure evil . Many times the vandals don't even know who they are hurting . Pure evil ...sick .

[WILCO]

Inside job.....................

[shaper]

That just makes me angry. Do these idiots know how important the bees are to our food system? I have only 5 hives and lost 2 of them this year by white moths. Just to replace the bees for these two hives is going to cost me over $400 , if I can find them. The local bee supplier has raised the cost of a nuc to $222. I have been in my shop with no heat in these cold temps trying to build 5 more hives and get them in place before spring. That will cost over $1000. just for the bees not to mention the cost of lumber to build them. It had to be someone that knows the beekeeper to do something like that. I hope they catch them. Maybe let the beekeeper have the first punch, or worse.

[15meter]

Don't underestimate PETA and friends. I have read their claims that using honey is theft and beekeepers are "extorting" and "exploiting" bees. Destroy the business and you stop the "extortion". There was an animal research facility at Michigan State University that was destroyed a number of years back using that logic.

I think they called themselves the Animal Liberation Front--ALF.

[WILCO]

That just makes me angry. Do these idiots know how important the bees are to our food system?

In all the world, this loss is meaningless in the big picture. It's okay. There's enough bees to go around.

[bob208]

I was thinking peta too.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Don't underestimate PETA and friends. I have read their claims that using honey is theft and beekeepers are "extorting" and "exploiting" bees. Destroy the business and you stop the "extortion". There was an animal research facility at Michigan State University that was destroyed a number of years back using that logic.

I think they called themselves the Animal Liberation Front--ALF.

I honestly would have a hard time believing peta would have activity in IA or MN...it just doesn't happen here.

So I went to google and did a quick search of "peta SIOUX CITY IA"

Peta helped wanted adds in local paper
https://www.helpwanted.com/422a511551c54-Crew-Member-job-listings

Peta plans billboard campaign saying, "Bird Flu: The writing is on the wall. Go Vegan"
http://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/local-news/peta-billboard-sioux-city-bird-flu/163907567

Peta Demands 10 foot tall Memorial for turkeys killed in truck crash
http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/state-and-regional/peta-wants-memorial-to-turkeys-killed-in-sioux-city-crash/article_8d0d3f5d-1483-541d-a60b-398e36ae5d15.html

So, I guess I was wrong, peta is active here in flyover country

[Hickory]

Daddy never taught them what was good and what was bad, if they even had a daddy!

[Alstep]

Don't come down so hard on PETA. A bunch of us guys around these parts here are very supportive of PETA. However our version is "People Eating Tasty Animals" !!!

I used to raise bees, only had a few hives. It's expensive and a lot of work. I just wish the vandals had done this in the summer, they'd been stung bad and gotten their due punishment. I sure hope they get those guys. That's a huge loss for the beekeeper that he'll never recover.

[abunaitoo]

Might be kids with nothing else to do.
We had a mass killing of migratory birds, nest, and chicks killed off by some collage kids.
One graduated from punahou, so just got a light slap on the wrist.
Don't know if it's still the case, but Bee's have been under attack by some kind of mite.
It's killing whole hives off at a time.
Because we're isolated, our bee's didn't have it.
There are a bunch of bee keepers here that make a good living selling Queen bee's.
We still don't have the mite or the African Bee's here.
When a bee hive is found, and needs to be removed, they don't kill them.
They relocate them to a bee farm.
Without bee's, we'll have no fruits or flowers.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

About two months ago a large truck was hauling over a million bees north on I-5 to pollinate groups when it was involved in an accident, caught fire and burned. All the bees were killed.

[xs11jack]

I have an aversion to bee's otherwise I might set up some hives out on my friends acreage just because we need to raise more bee's here in the US. I read that a partial solution for the mite problem is to buy Russia queens. They are not totally immune to mites but they are in the 60% range of immunity. Ibunaitoo's post reminded me of a before and after pictures of a supermarket produce department. The before pic showed that all the bins a selves were full and the after pic showed about 50 to 60 percent of the produce was gone. Scary.
Ole Jack

[rockrat]

I would love to have some hives if it wasn't for the fact I am allergic to the stings!! Love seeing the bees working when the fruit trees are in bloom. I usually hear them before I see them.

[MaryB]

I hope the cretins are found, this is a felony level offense dollar wise so they could go away for a long time!

I have debated a couple smaller hives, farmer around me is organic, my yard is organic(aka I don't care if it is weedy, clover and dandelions feed the bees)... cost to get setup is the issue. Last fall some bees near me swarmed but I couldn't find the queen or I would have attempted to capture them. I had bees in the shed, the garage, inside my house... they were everywhere.

[MUSTANG]

Hoping that my Hive makes it through the winter. First year we have had Bees. Ordered another Bee NUC from Murdoch's to establish a 2nd colony come Spring 2018 (2018 is only 3 hours and 24 minutes away, Spring a few more months given the snow we have been getting at the Kalispell house.)

[15meter]

In all the world, this loss is meaningless in the big picture. It's okay. There's enough bees to go around.

Unfortunately we don't, do some research on bee hive death. We are losing massive numbers of hives each year and there are numerous theories on why but no hard evidence. Most of the "theories" from the organic people point to herbicides/insecticides but no supporting science. They want all non "organic" and GMO banned immediately.

[bedbugbilly]

Sick . . . just plain "sick". Kids? Hopefully they find the perp or perps of this and they throw the book at them - jail time and restitution. Bad enough about the bees . . . but destroyed a home business as well - not only the "cost" of the damage but future earnings.

Makes about as much sense as those who go in to cemeteries and break and topple headstones.

Anyone who has worked hard for something knows about the "cost" of such things - obviously those responsible were never made to work and earn things nor respect for others - both human and other living things.

[buckwheatpaul]

Just the loss in pollination from the loss is a tremendous loss for the community. Hope they find the scumbags and properly deal with them....

[beezapilot]

We had an incident like that here, Horace Bell Honey, pretty much wiped out the mans livelihood. Offered a significant reward for any information and all- but nothing. Minding your own business and respect for other peoples property are dying art forms.

[StrawHat]

Without bees, there will be no coffee! Save the bees!

Kevin

[Hickory]

Vandals caught!

http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/two-boys-charged-with-destruction-of-half-million-bees-at/article_1cc01b0b-f1c6-5472-99c6-3e8f71176b2a.html

[ARKLITE881South]

Vandals caught!

http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/two-boys-charged-with-destruction-of-half-million-bees-at/article_1cc01b0b-f1c6-5472-99c6-3e8f71176b2a.html

GOOD! That is great news, i hope they throw the book at them. But, they are just ''children'' and, they'll probably be let off, released to the custody of their parents. I'm glad to hear the bee keeper is going to get it back together soon.

[Hickory]

I don't think these "children" should escape restitution, even if it takes 20-30 years to pay for the damage done.

[lightman]

I'm glad they got caught. I doubt that the authorities do much to them, being juveniles, but we can hope.

[rdwarrior]

They did find the culprits - 2 teenagers I think 13 and 14. I grew up 45 miles from Sioux City. Bee hives used to a booming business back there. Sioux Bee honey used to move their hives every spring from Texas to Iowa and South Dakota by truck and then back to Texas in the fall before the super cold temps. There was a second bee business destroyed by vandals in the country recently after the Sioux City incident - cant remember where.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

there was another bee vandalism in the news 2 days ago in Prunedale, Calif.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-bees-killed-20180117-story.html


200,000 bees die when vandals topple hives, pour gas on them

A Prunedale, Calif., man says vandals toppled 100 beehives and killed hundreds of thousands of bees after dousing them with diesel fuel.

Mike Hickenbottom told KSBW-TV that the Italian and Russian honeybees on his property were attacked Saturday.

Hickenbottom says the bees are stored on his property during the winter, and beekeeper Alfonzo Perez leases the hives to pollinate almond trees on farms across the state.

Hickenbottom says neighbors have complained about the bees in the past, but the bees are not aggressive. An estimated 200,000 bees died.

[RGrosz]

The guy who lost the bees in Sioux City had several 'Go Fund Me' pages set up for him that raised enough money to help him replace most of his stock. When he heard about the beekeeper in CA that lost his, he said most of the excess will go to his costs to get set up again.
My ex-roommate at ISU is a beekeeper in eastern Iowa. Most of the larger keepers are somewhat transient, in that they move their hives to greener places to keep them alive and working through the cold northern winters.
Rob

[starmac]

A lot of bigger bee keepers, maybe even most of them move their hives to where they lease them out for the pollination season, honey is just the secondary income for them. different parts of the country needs them at different times of the year, many bees travel from coast to coast during a typical year.

[retread]

The kids that did this need to pay back the owners regardless of how long it takes. That is the only way a lesson will be learned.

[BigMagShooter]

proper punishment would be to make them 'work the bees' in the spring, they'd learn a trade, get stung a time or two, and pay their debt.

I'd say about 3yrs indentured servitude would be about right.

[lefty o]

proper punishment would be to make them 'work the bees' in the spring, they'd learn a trade, get stung a time or two, and pay their debt.

I'd say about 3yrs indentured servitude would be about right.

should be until they turn 18.

[Plate plinker]

Probably stupid teens. Catch'em and make them pay restitution.

I see they were caught. Hopefully they get sentences that make them do good deeds for a looooonnnnnnggggggggg time.

[JSnover]

In all the world, this loss is meaningless in the big picture. It's okay. There's enough bees to go around.

I suppose it might bother you more if the $50,000 loss was yours.
Luckily they were able to get some help and the two idiots responsible were caught.

[MaryB]

At that big of a loss a good prosecutor would push to try them as adults... and go after their parents!

[opos]

Sentence them to large fines and then set them up to work the hives during hot weather..moving hives and learning how bees retalliate....and if the parents whine and ask forgiveness for the little snot bags..have Mom and Dad work the bees as well...A hot summer doing some real work would have an impact and would help with restitution..not just a slap on the wrist.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

In all the world, this loss is meaningless in the big picture. It's okay. There's enough bees to go around.

The world isn't short of humans either, but that doesn't stop a lot of extermination work being quite deeply wrong.

I'll cheerfully shoot anything legal I can eat, or which is a pest to myself or others. Something that is just a test of skill, or the ability to risk being eaten or stamped flat? Well maybe. It is certainly understandable. But using one's skill at kicking over hives, to kill half a million useful and valued beings and someone's livelihood, seems on a pretty subhuman plane.

There are a lot of months in the year when I would be very wary of kicking over a beehive, let alone staying around for more. It does sound like the culprits knew what they were doing. I wouldn't dismiss a personal grudge or business competition. Or PETA or their fellow-travellers, willing to kill hundreds of thousands for their own good. Even if there aren't many in the area, it doesn't take many, or much of a think-tank.

[starmac]

The punks were 12 and 13 years old, I highly doubt they were peta or a competitor or anything else but punks. I also highly doubt they get much more than a record out of the ordeal. I don't follow peta, but as far as I know, they don't have anything against bees anyway.

[Plate plinker]

It’s to bad the bee keepers can’t keep a hive of African honey bees around. That would fixem.