THE ‘BEE-ZARRE’ CASE OF THE STOLEN BEEHIVE

IN what surely must be one of the most ‘ bee-zare’ thefts of the year so far, a Mitcheltown man went out to check on his beehive last Friday morning – only to find that sticky-fingered thieves had made off with it .

Tony Kelly, who lives Cooleregan, Mitchelstown, said the theft of the beehive, which contained thousands of native Irish black bees and was worth around €500, took place sometime on Thursday evening.

Tony, who has been keeping bees as a hobby for many years, said he could not quite believe his eyes when he discovered the hive had been stolen.

“I have been keeping bees for many years and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me. Whoever took the hive knew exactly what they were doing and must have been properly suited up,” he said.

“I have been looking up online selling sites to see if anyone has put a hive up for sale, but the chances of getting it back are not great. It is a very odd kind of thing to happen and while not the end of the world, nonetheless annoying as I was looking forward to a good harvest of honey this year,” he added.

As it transpired, this kind of theft is not as unusual as Tony at first thought.

“When I reported the theft to the gardaí in Mitchelstown the garda I spoke to was somewhat surprised, to say the least. However, upon further investigation they found this kind of thing happens quite often. Apparently, County Wexford is a hotbed for beehive thefts,” he said.

“While it is annoying for me I can imagine a thing like this could be a devastating blow for someone who raises and sells bees for living,” he added.