Nearly a Million Bees Vanish in Heist Amid Growing Fears of a Parasite

More than 800,000 bees have been stolen from commercial hives across far north Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands in Australia in what beekeepers are calling one of the largest thefts of its kind in memory. The heist, which authorities believe required specialized knowledge and equipment, has rattled Australia’s beekeeping industry at a time when it’s already bracing for the spread of a destructive parasite.The missing bees were taken from multiple properties, with entire brood boxes — the part of the hive where queens lay eggs and young bees are raised — removed intact. Because brood boxes sit at the bottom of a hive, their absence isn’t immediately obvious, which has fueled speculation that the culprits knew exactly what they were doing.“This doesn’t take ten minutes. This is someone [who has] been there for a couple of hours and likely more than one person helping achieve this in that sort of time frame,” beekeeper Tom Bidner told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He believes the stolen hives are “most likely sitting on someone’s farm right now doing pollination with them totally unbeknownst.”Mr. Bidner, who lost 44 colonies himself, said the operation involved dismantling the hives, transferring the frames, and reassembling everything to avoid detection. “They’re rocking up with a truckload of gear, basically, and they’re transferring our frames into their boxes … and putting our hives back together, so it doesn’t sort of alert any of the growers that it looks like someone’s been in and done such a thing,” he said.Notably, the thieves left the honey behind, suggesting the bees themselves — and their pollination value — were the real target. With avocado season in full swing across the region, hives are in high demand for pollination contracts, some worth thousands of dollars.Deputy Sergeant Ben Cross of the Mareeba rural and stock crime squad told the ABC he suspects the culprit is a “commercial farmer” rather than a hobbyist, echoing a sentiment shared by other beekeepers in the industry.Following a similar theft of 80 hives in New South Wales earlier this year, Mitch McLennan, owner of the Honey Shed in Tabulam, told the Guardian, “It’s definitely a beekeeper. Like, no one else goes in and steals any hives of bees. … What else are you going to do with them unless you’re a beekeeper?”The theft comes just weeks after the varroa mite — a parasite capable of wiping out a honeybee colony within three years — was first detected in far north Queensland. Australia abandoned efforts to eradicate the mite in 2023 after spending more than $100 million trying to contain it, according to University of Queensland professor Megan O’Mara, who estimates uncontrolled spread could cost the industry up to $1 billion over the next 30 years.For Mr. Bidner, the timing couldn’t be worse. “We haven’t detected mites in our colonies yet, but we should be putting our time and energy into that,” he told the Guardian. “And instead, we’ve had this spate of theft.”

Nearly a Million Bees Vanish in Heist Amid Growing Fears of a Parasite

Nearly a Million Bees Vanish in Heist Amid Growing Fears of a Parasite

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