Beehive bandit makes off with 57 hives, leaves Alberta beekeeper feeling 'helpless'

Brendan Coulter · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 3:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

An Alberta beekeeper says he's feeling "helpless" aft 57 of his beehives were stolen from respective locations successful Foothills County.

Jon Zwiers, who owns Honey Meadows Farm, said helium visited 4 bee yards this week and hives were missing from each location.

He said astir $30,000 worth of bees and instrumentality is gone.

"It's decidedly rattling due to the fact that we don't cognize who's doing it and we don't cognize erstwhile it volition stop. You consciousness helpless due to the fact that this is our livestock and we don't person immoderate answers," helium said.

Zwiers believes the hives were stolen between April 17 and April 30.

"We're not definite yet however we'll regenerate them due to the fact that my anticipation is that inactive idiosyncratic comes guardant and says, 'I made a mistake,' and returns them.… We're conscionable trying to marque an honorable living."

In summation to chromatic production, the missing bees were important for pollination successful the area, according to Zwiers, who lives astir 15 kilometres southeast of Calgary. 

His household has been keeping bees for 40 years and has ne'er earlier been targeted by specified large-scale theft, helium said.

Zwiers posted about the missing bees connected societal media and said the messages of enactment helium received person provided a much-needed boost.

"It was astir emotional, too," said Zwiers. "I've ne'er been faced with this magnitude of an issue. And truthful it was heartstring-pulling."

He believes different beekeeper is liable for the thefts due to the fact that a non-beekeeper wouldn't admit the hives' worth oregon cognize what to bash with them. 

Whoever took the bees apt passed done a closed gate onto intelligibly marked backstage onshore to entree astatine slightest 1 of the bee yards, helium said.

Bee theft is uncommon successful the province, according to Alberta Beekeepers Commission president Curtis Miedema, but not unheard of. 

"It has happened successful the past, wherever bee hives person gone missing. I mean, usually connected a smaller scale," helium said. "This is reasonably uncommon to perceive of specified a large theft."

"As beekeepers, it's decidedly thing that's a spot alarming, due to the fact that we are reasonably exposed that way. Our bee hives are retired of antithetic people's fields."

To support their hives safe, Miedema said beekeepers tin instal tracking devices connected oregon wrong their hives, but those products travel astatine a cost, and tin also be stolen, helium said.

High River RCMP person confirmed they're investigating what happened to the Honey Meadows Farm bees.

Zwiers is asking anyone who sees a ample fig of beehives look successful a caller determination to interaction police.