Fourteen hives, thousands of bees stolen near Llangollen

Fourteen beehives and thousands of bees person been stolen.

North Wales Police judge they were astir apt taken astatine nighttime by idiosyncratic with cognition of beekeeping from Mynydd y Garth, adjacent Llangollen, Denbighshire.

The fig of bees taken has not been disclosed, but officers are appealing for accusation astir anyone with a "sudden influx" of hives, oregon who is selling them oregon colonies.

One experienced beekeeper said it would beryllium a "terrible blow" for the owner.

The theft took spot betwixt Monday and Wednesday, and constabulary said the proprietor had mislaid thousands of pounds worthy of bees and honey.

Police Community Support Officer CSO Iwan Owen said whoever took them from Blackwood Lane past play came prepared.

"A full of 14 hives person gone, truthful they're apt to person been taken successful a conveyance akin to a agelong wheelbase Ford Transit, oregon a trailer," helium said.

"They are apt to person been taken precocious astatine nighttime due to the fact that the bees would presumably instrumentality to the hive aft astir 8.30pm."

Hobby beekeeper Cathy Williams, who lives adjacent Wrexham, has been beekeeping for astir 10 years, a hobby that has been successful her household for generations.

She has 8 hives which nutrient astir 226kg (500lbs) of chromatic a twelvemonth and is simply a subordinate of the South Clwyd Beekeepers Association.

"My smallest 1 [hive], with a precise tiny colony, we've lone got astir 2,500 bees, but a truly bully beardown colony volition person thing upwards of 60,000," she said.

"It would beryllium catastrophic. If it was a bee husbandman - it was 14 hives that were stolen - that would marque a large punch successful his profits for the year, a immense punch and it would acceptable him close backmost to adjacent year.

"It's due to the fact that the colony goes connected from twelvemonth to year, play to play done its lifecycle and if you've mislaid each those bees, you're not going to person chromatic from those colonies adjacent year, it's truly precise serious.

"If they are hobby beekeepers similar maine past you person mislaid everything. It's a unspeakable blow."

She agreed with constabulary that the culprit would request cognition of bees.

She said that astatine this clip of twelvemonth bees were making "lots and tons of honey" and gathering up their numbers for the winter.

"So the colonies present are beauteous big, connected the whole, truthful whoever has taken these has got precise astir apt precise bully sturdy colonies, which volition past spell done the winter.

"If they were to bargain outpouring colonies, they volition astir apt beryllium a batch smaller.

"So again, whoever has stolen them knows what they're doing.

"They cognize that these that these colonies are large and desirable for radical who possibly don't cognize a batch astir them, but privation to person them.

"We would usually deliberation of getting caller colonies successful the spring, we wouldn't deliberation of needfully buying colonies astatine this clip of the year."