Melissa Harris, of environmental conservation organisation The Beekeeper Cape Town, thought that an incident involving 40 missing hives might be a case of “commercial theft”.
She did not reveal the actual location of the theft, saying beekeepers were cagey about the exact locations. Harris said the cost implications were huge for beekeepers, and there was also damage to the bees. An average hive with frames, wax and bees and a producing swarm can vary from R1,500 to R3,000 each, she said.
“It's heart-wrenching arriving and seeing your bees bunched and then trying to rehive them. Most of the time they abscond because it's been too much for them. We as beekeepers lose a viable swarm/colony that was working and productive.”“Now there are cases being reported almost every two days.”
Bee industry must be highly protected. Our government need to do sumthing to protect the bee keepers