More Than 800,000 Bees Reportedly Stolen in Alleged Beehive Theft Spree by Experienced Suspect
More Than 800,000 Bees Reportedly Stolen in Alleged Beehive Theft Spree by Experienced Suspect
Kimberlee SpeakmanThu, September 24, 2026 at 2:25 PM UTC
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A stock image of a bee on a flowerCredit: Getty -
Over 800,000 bees have been stolen from multiple properties in North Queensland, Australia, impacting local beekeepers
The thefts appear to be a coordinated operation, possibly carried out by an experienced commercial beekeeper, authorities say
Beekeepers said they are also battling the threat of varroa mites, compounding the challenges they face
More than 800,000 bees have been stolen in a series of thefts in Australia.
The thefts have reportedly occurred on several properties in North Queensland, Australia, according to The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Tom Bidner, an apiarist from the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland, told The Guardian that 44 colonies — which contain more than 20,000 bees — had been stolen from three different beekeepers.
Jack Laughton, a commercial beekeeper in North Queensland, told ABC that his property was one of the ones targeted. He said that he discovered 14 empty beehives at a property in Kairi on Sept. 10.
A photo of a honey bee colony.Credit: Getty
“I was completely gutted because the amount of work that goes in preparing beehives to a good quality, to a high standard, is quite a lot of work,” Laughton told ABC. “It’s a bit of a shock to the system just to open a [hive] where you would normally see bees, expect a full, healthy hive, and there’s just nothing.”
He shared that each hive contained about 15,000 bees, and nearly 500,000 were stolen from his property in total. Bidner, who also manages Laughton’s beehives, told ABC that 27 more empty hives turned up at a separate property over the following two days.
Bidner said the thefts have taken a significant financial toll on beekeepers, who are losing not only the value of their hives, but also the income they would have earned from the bees.
“Brood nests have been gutted and hives put back together … which is an initial loss of property, somewhere around up to $20,000 worth of hives so far,” he estimated to ABC. “Beyond that, we’ve lost anywhere up to $10,000 worth of pollination income.”
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Detective Sergeant Ben Cross, the officer-in-charge of the Mareeba Rural and Stock Crime Squad with Queensland Police, told ABC that they suspect the perpetrator may be an experienced beekeeper themselves.
The operation allegedly involved raiding beehives at properties in multiple areas, with the thief using specialized equipment to carry out the thefts. The alleged suspect removed the brood box frame—a removable insert where bees raise their young—leaving the hives’ remaining structure appearing intact from a distance, according to The Guardian and ABC.
“From what we can understand, from where they’ve been taken and what the purpose of the bees was and their location, we’re of the belief that it’s possibly more of a commercial operation than a hobby farmer,” Cross told ABC.
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PEOPLE has reached out to Queensland Police for comment on the case.
Beekeepers are contending not only with the thefts but also with the threat of varroa mites, parasitic pests that can devastate honey bee colonies and were first detected in the area just weeks ago.
“It’s just a double whammy for us at the moment,” Bidner told ABC.
“We haven’t detected mites in our colonies yet, but we should be putting our time and energy into that,” he added to the Guardian. “And instead, we’ve had this spate of theft.”
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Source: “AOL General News”
