Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Photo file
In this July 16, 2014 photo, bees hover around a hive on a field where they are to pollinate crops in Los Banos, Calif. A Montana beekeeper says thieves got away with 488 beehives he had taken to California to pollinate almond trees. Getting your player ready...
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana beekeeper says thieves got away with 488 beehives he had taken to California to pollinate almond trees.
Lloyd Cunniff it appeared the thieves used semitrailers to steal about 190,000 bees between Monday night and Tuesday morning in Yuba City, California. He said he was storing the bees on a fellow beekeeper’s property before moving them to Fresno, where he had a contract to pollinate almond trees.
Cunniff says the theft will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in income. The hives were insured.
Cunniff said he reported the theft to the Sutter County sheriff’s department and learned other beekeepers have reported thefts, as well. He says beekeepers also are searching for the missing hives.
