New trend in beehive thefts in Northland

Whangarei beekeeper David Pullen showing a beehive frame on his farm. Photo / John Stone

Beehive thieves in Northland have upped the ante and are now stealing just the bees for a quick buck as the value of high-quality manuka honey soars on the international market.

Police say Northland apiarists are particularly vulnerable to beehive and bee thefts because of the region's higher concentration of manuka honey, particularly in the Far North, due to its climate.

While manuka honey costs $21 to $28 a kilogram, international markets will pay $30 to $50 per kg and medical grade manuka honey can fetch up to $1000 per kg.

David Pullen says the honey industry has been a victim of its own success, referring to the spate of beehive thefts across Northland. Photo / John Stone

Chris Edwards, president of the Whangarei Bee Club, said there has been five cases in Northland where thieves have left the hives and just taken the bees. Thieves have also taken frames out of beehives, and extracted the honey and then dumped the bees.

"Most thieves who steal just the bees are not beekeepers and they are doing this for quick cash."

He did not have figures on the number of beehives stolen in Northland in the last five years but police said it received 408 reports linked to bee and beehive thefts around the country between July last year and January this year. No regional breakdowns were available.

A beehive costs $500 to $1000 to make while frames, bees and honey can raise the value to $3000.

Mr Edwards said about three months ago three hives were stolen from the club in Whareora and bees were taken from another. One hive, with remnants of bees, was found upside down near the gate after an unsuccessful attempt to steal it.

Mr Edwards said it was hard to combat beehive or bee thefts but apiarists could install security and surveillance systems and microchips in their hives. Two men are before the Whangarei District Court on separate charges relating to the beehives thefts in Northland.

Whangarei beekeeper David Pullen said the industry has been a victim of its own success.

He said it was extremely difficult for people without any knowledge of beekeeping to steal beehives or the bees because they needed to identify and take the queen bee that laid eggs and a couple of frames.

Mr Pullen said thieves stole frames from inside the beehive boxes or shook the bees off the frames into boxes.

"There's this craziness around chasing manuka. The number of beekeepers in Northland over the last five years has something like tripled and there's also more beehives.

"I am really lucky none of my beehives have been stolen as nearly all of them are on the back of farms," he said.

Mr Pullen has been beekeeping for five years and produces about five tonnes of honey annually.

Co-ordinator of community policing Senior Sergeant Alasdair MacMillan believed an organised group was responsible for the thefts.

"I don't think it's an opportunistic act by one person to grab a beehive for toast on his bread. Each beehive weighs around 50kg, their transportation, and extraction means groups of people are behind the thefts," he said.

In August last year, 48 hives were reported stolen from a property south of Kaitaia and a month earlier, another 200 hives were stolen from Topuni Forest. There are now about 600,000 registered beehives in New Zealand, almost twice the number six years ago.

New Zealand is the world's third-largest exporter of honey by value, behind China and Argentina.

Mr MacMillan said police were working with several agencies, including Apiculture NZ and the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), to reduce beehive thefts.