Bee rustling is the term for theft of
honey bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...
s, analogous to
cattle rustling
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...
. It has been reported in
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
, the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau.
As American settlement i ...
, and the United Kingdom. A 2014 theft in California was valued at
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
65,000, and a December 2016 theft of 300 bee colonies in Texas was valued at $90,000.
[ Bees and honey worth $100,000 were stolen from a farm in ]Abbotsford, British Columbia
Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...
in 2012.[ The California State Beekeepers Association offers a $10,000 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of a bee rustler.][
'' Modern Farmer'', '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and others ascribe the increase in this crime to higher honeybee values after colony collapse disorder
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee bee colony, colony disappear, leaving behind a queen bee, queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining ...
s started c. 2006.[
]
See also
*Horse theft
Horse theft is the crime of stealing horses. A person engaged in stealing horses is known as a horse thief. Historically, punishments were often severe for horse theft, with several cultures pronouncing the sentence of death upon actual or pre ...
References
*
*{{citation, title=Bee rustlers add to misery of struggling hive owners, date=May 25, 2013, publisher=BBC, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-22660132
Bees
Animal theft