Is theft a large problem?

Buy bees, breed bees, steal bees - it's the other method of making increase... Yes, it happens everywhere. Just had a friend have his bees stolen (and the boxed left).

Two of my outyards are within sight of the homes of shotgun toting landowners, the 3rd is in a location that looks like the movie set for Texas Chainsaw Massacre (that one even made me nervous at first but nice folks).

Doubtful if kids know the value of beehives. Might be more likely to tip them or shoot them.

Universal rite-of-passage for 12 year old boys --- picking up a stick and beating on beehives. Usually directed by 13 year old older siblings who double dare the 12 year olds. Nothing will stop this ceremony, but usually the damage is self limiting.

from the kids I would be more worried about vandalism, knocked over, rocks thrown at them, shot up or even sprayed with poison.

Is theft something to worry about.......if it has value then somebody is wanting it for free.

In two of the 3 urban backyards I have kept bees, the hives were in plain sight from the street, including where I live now. That covers about 8 years and I have never had anything stolen. Had a hive knocked over once.

pollinating his blue berries ... never had a theft problem here ... but I read somewhere on this site that blueberries are not a good food source for the bees. Anyone else know more about this?

I have had three stolen, and another guy has had two stolen.

copied this from a different thread, search blueberrys, I dont know, but might be worth looking into. Good Luck. G

The study stated that Ebb occurred before moving to blueberries in March. I read that honeybees do better with a variety of different pollen with protein percentage of at least 20 percent. I believe blueberries pollen is around 14 percent. So if blueberry pollen is the only pollen source the brood would be somewhat malnourished. Which would leave the door open to all kinds of problems. I have 12 blueberry bushes and have not seen any honeybees on them. Which tells me they found a better more nutritious source. That's the way I see it.

Karen said:

pollinating his blue berries ... never had a theft problem here ... but I read somewhere on this site that blueberries are not a good food source for the bees. Anyone else know more about this?

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I'm not trying to be a PIA but if you would like information about blueberries please start another thread. When I check threads that I start I'd like to be able to get the information that I seek and not have to spend time navigating through hijacks. This is just bad forum etiquette. This goes for any Internet forum.
FYI most crops that need commercial pollination are not good nectar sources.

I know someone who had several hives stolen this winter.

sorry if I upset you challenger, No, I havent had any stolen yet.

I've not personally had hives stolen but I do read about it from time to time. The challenge I face is vandalism. Last week I had 10 hives in one of my yards kicked over. That'll make your blood boil.

I agree vandalism is the likely outcome from local kids. But when I started putting hives on people's land that weren't good friends, I bought a branding iron. At least I can make the argument they are mine if I find them. Another advantage to all medium frames and all eight frame boxes is no one around here has that size... Another reason to brand is the old farmer may pass away and his kids or grandkids claim "those are grandpa's bees". And you can ask why grandpa branded your name on them...

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/Clip.jpg

Michael Bush said:

But when I started putting hives on people's land that weren't good friends, I bought a branding iron.
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/Clip.jpg

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Man how long does it take to brand an entire hive and how do you get them to stay still for the branding?

JeffM17 said:

Man how long does it take to brand an entire hive and how do you get them to stay still for the branding?

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Not as long as it takes to put in the ear tags... Sorry, couldn't help myself. There is a piece on the Weather Channel site today about the thefts from the almonds. There's no excuse for stealing someone's property/livelihood.

I lost two this year. Its hard to drive up to check on them, only to find they are missing.

challenger said:

I'm not trying to be a PIA but if you would like information about blueberries please start another thread. When I check threads that I start I'd like to be able to get the information that I seek and not have to spend time navigating through hijacks. This is just bad forum etiquette. This goes for any Internet forum.
FYI most crops that need commercial pollination are not good nectar sources.

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I don't think you should jump on biggraham. He is just offering up info that he thought you might find helpful.

Beesource threads aren't interrogations by the OP, they're conversations between many people, and conversation don't always follow a straight line.

>Man how long does it take to brand an entire hive and how do you get them to stay still for the branding?

The hard part is buying a branding iron small enough...

I agree with shinbone, its conversation and often one thing leads to another.

Karens post was an interesting one and gave the OP a heads up that maybe he needs to do some research on blueberry pollination.

I would hate to see this forum become as hardline as you are advocating challenger it would become boring and disjointed very quickly, with new threads growing like mushrooms.

Should I have created amother thread to post this opinion?