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Apr 22, 2008 5:47 pm US/Eastern
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Hives Stolen From Howard County Bee Keeper
SAVAGE, Md. (WJZ) ―
The flowering trees are bursting into bloom and millions of nature's pollinators, the honey bees, are out taking nectar from the flowers.
But as
Mike Schuh reports, someone took the bees before they could get to the flowers in Howard County.
What happened is all the buzz.
"Yes, they knew what they were doing. They knew where they had a sale for them, and they just took advantage of the situation," said bee keeper Don Kolpack.
It's the talk of the hive. For five years, Kolpack kept six honey bee hives in Savage, just off a main road.
The last time he checked on them, they were gone.
"They were stolen like these, doubles, they stole everything from here up," Kolpack said.
Thieves stole wood boxes, the internal frames and of course the bees.
There are ten frames in a hive and each hive produces 50 pounds of honey. In all, he thinks he's lost about 250 pounds of honey this year. That honey means money. Kolpack is out about $2,000 this year and $6,000 for the life of the hive.
As for who did it, Don has some ideas.
"I don't think this was a bee keeper that swiped these. I think that this was someone who needed a quick buck. When a farmer finds out that somebody has six hives of bees for sale, they'll wonder can they bring them and how soon can you get them here."
The bee keeper warns that the hives are all marked. If a state inspector should find the hives, any legitimate farmer or bee keeper could lose their state license.
Howard County police are asking anyone who knows about the crime to call them.
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