Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: CAHighwind on August 05, 2010, 08:12:43 pm
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It was Tuesday morning... a lovely day. I was out sitting with my hives in the middle of my 5 acre property as I do most mornings. The folks behind me (who are EXTREMELY LOUD) were working on something, hammering and yelling at one another as usual. Suddenly, I hear the woman scream "LOOK AT ALL THE BEES UNDER THERE!" then all sorts of hooting and hollering. What they are doing is out of my line of sight, since there are a lot of trees out this way, and they are on the other side of a 20 yard wide ravine between our properties. I sort of shake my head and laugh to myself, thinking that they probably actually got into a wasp nest since those are in no short supply out here. A few minutes later, I got up and went inside, then leaving the house for about 2 hours to do my daily routine.
When I return, I go back out to my hives to see how everyone is doing. At first I was confused at the number of bees in the air, then I saw that my biggest hive, a Lang of Russians 2 deeps and 1 shallow, has been knocked over. This was no light hive, it's weighing around a few hundred pounds at this point, had been sitting on level, and was the first hive one would encounter after coming through my back fence. It wasn't wind, it was a perfectly still day and this thing has sat out through mondo thunderstorms anyway. We don't have bears out here, and no other animals in reach of this hive anywhere near strong enough to have toppled it. Also, the line of hasty footprints through the muddy ravine between my fence and the folks behind us... well, that was a pretty big clue.
Regardless, I ran inside and got my suit and hurried back out, putting the hive back together, taking a LOT of stings through my bee suit (boy they were mad!), and spraining my right wrist in the process. From what I could tell, the frames all looked relatively intact, and once I got it back upright, the bees calmed down and went back inside.
Strangely enough, when I showed back up outside and my neighbors realized it, they got very quiet.
This hive is my pissiest hive... it's no wonder that there was only the one knocked over. Starting with the Russians, they wouldn't have had a shot to get to any of the other hives. I haven't gone over and asked the neighbors anything. If they DID come over and do this, blaming me for whatever they'd upset that morning... a) I think they probably got more than they bargained for when the bees attacked and b) if they were willing to do that, obviously these folks aren't on an even keel and I don't want to risk my further well being going over there.
Every morning since, I've awakened and gone right out to make sure my bees are all okay, and so far, so good. Maybe whoever did that learned a very unpleasant lesson. It might be mean of me, but by God I hope they got a face full of angry bees. I can't imagine how awful it must have been to run from an angry hive and having to stop to get through a barbed wire fence... My Russians have chased me all the way back to the house before for very minor infractions >:)
Anyway, my evil revenge filled heart aside, I am going to look inside this hive on Saturday to see what the real damage was. I figure I'll be able to use my right hand again by then and able to fix any collapsed combs if there are any. What else should I be on the lookout for other than I reckon checking for eggs to make sure my queen survived the incident? What would y'all do?
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What would y'all do?
I'd make sure I had some protection before I came over and knocked your hive over again... :-D
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i'm afraid i would have been a little more confrontational. i would have taken them some benadryl, smiled at the stings, and suggested that if they trespassed again and damaged my property i would call the police....maybe after i filled their backside with rock salt. oh...and "have a nice day now!".
i hope you don't find your hives sprayed after they are over the pain of the stings they took.......
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That's too bad. What a bunch of jerks. . .Maybe I'm crazy, but I can understand and maybe tolerage people being cruel to people better than I can understand people doing bad things to animals.
It would have really upset me. . .Sounds like you handled yourself well, but I think I might notify law enforcement. That way there is a record of their doings and a basis for future suspicion. A bee hive is obviously worth hundreds of dollars. Wrecking one isn't a small thing to be ignored. . .
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electric fences work on more than bears, plus those motion activated cameras are cheaper now a days
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can you hook those fences up to a military field generator?
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I would just get the Sheriff involved. Having a cop car come by the house should put some scare in to them. Do you have your target range set up yet? I find that firing off a few mags at 6 in the morning lets them know things.
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I totally concur with contacting the police to take a report, especially if you know they are liable to see you... If you feel that they are watching, shake the officer's hand as he leaves... If all else I could loan you an AK for a test...
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I can understand you not wanting to confront unbalanced people, but I agree that documentation is everything. If they are capable of doing that sort of thing, there needs to be an official record. Don't suppose you took any pictures?
I also agree because 5 acres really isn't all that big....I don't know what the layout of your plot is in relation to your neighbors and their paths of travel, but stirring up the bees could have gotten innocent people stung. AND you suffered an injury in your attempt to put the hive back together.
As for your vengence filled heart.... we all join you in a heartfelt "bwahahaha!"
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Ditto on the police report. They might not be able to do anything about it but at least it would be documented. Most law enforcement officials would at least stop to talk to your neighbors about it..."This is what happened...did you see anything?". That in itself could make them realize that it's a crime and dissuade them from doing it again.
Of course I'd be popping off rounds every chance I could too...lets them know you're not afraid of firearms anyway.
I'm feelin' for you. If it were me I'd have gone berserk!
Scott
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The depths some people will stoop to.... :-x
I agree with the police report, and the firing of weapons if you have them. Game Cams are cheap insurance, and once you have a picture......... ;)
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Now if you get the pic of someone destroying your hive, and you sue them to get the hive replaced, can you get a $500 small cell hive out of it?
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Now if you get the pic of someone destroying your hive, and you sue them to get the hive replaced, can you get a $500 small cell hive out of it?
For first time readers, we might actually have people think that smallcell hives go for $500 So we better be clear that the actual cost for a smallcell hive is $5,000 :shock:
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Sorry you have to live so close to such unbalanced people. I would confront them. When it comes to my hives, I get very emotional.
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Call me jaded but outside of this forum I've never heard of someone being bold enough to vandalize a apiary.
Some days I'm afraid of my own bees.
We live in the city.
All that aside I can't even begin to imagine the conversation that would conclude to such a thing.
Gearless, smokeless, ignorant and quite frankly heartless.
Hope the gals hit them hard with everything they had.
Neighbors are a tricky thing.
Hang in there.
Sarita
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Gearless, smokeless, ignorant and quite frankly heartless
perhaps they had a liquid shield?
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I would put up a hidden cam. I would also go over there and ask them if they seen anybody screwing around on your property. Then I would ask them if they think you should call the police. I think you would have a pretty good Idea if they were involved after a nice talk.
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I would put up a hidden cam. I would also go over there and ask them if they seen anybody screwing around on your property. Then I would ask them if they think you should call the police. I think you would have a pretty good Idea if they were involved after a nice talk.
Probably what I would do. I'm thankful that my neighbors are all relatives so no worries of anything like this happening to me. I would hate to lose one of my 50,000 small cell hives :-D
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you have 50,000 hives holy crap
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Go visit them with a camera and take photos of all the bee stings they have. Then go to the cops.
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you have 50,000 hives holy crap
LMAO. No one of my SC hives that is apparently worth $50,000. Long story.
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that would be impressive 50,000 hive, you could turn quite some cash with that many hives
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I'll bite, Whats the story. :?
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Klaymore Mines, .50 Cal(Interlocking Fields of fire) and You w/ an AK-47 staring at your neighbors with a crazed look should be enough.
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Thanks for all the responses. Trust me, I would peal off some rounds from any of my several firearms IF it wasn't forbidden by the covenants out here. Last thing I need is a busy body home owner's association breathing down my neck... Though, I was in tears over the whole thing, I love my bees.
As for confronting them, the more I think about it, I think I will take what was suggested here and just go over there to "warn them" that someone has vandalized my property, and that they, as neighbors should be aware of it. I also do think I'll call the police and put in a report, though I doubt more will come of it than that since we have like... 3 police officers in this one horse town and even if they did come out, these folks, being behind my property probably wouldn't see it.
As for the game camera, that was my husband's first suggestion. We'll be going to the Microcenter this weekend and seeing what they have so I can set up a "bee cam".
Since Tuesday, nothing else has happened and I can only hope that they got their butts stung so bad that they're afraid to come over that fence again. Maybe my bees are a lot more frightening than my two, push over, couch potato Dobermans will ever be.
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I think you should notify law enforcement and then see if they will go over and talk to them and check for bee stings. Best wishes and don't let the jerks get you down.
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Call me jaded but outside of this forum I've never heard of someone being bold enough to vandalize a apiary.
Some days I'm afraid of my own bees.
We live in the city.
All that aside I can't even begin to imagine the conversation that would conclude to such a thing.
Gearless, smokeless, ignorant and quite frankly heartless.
Look it up on youtube. I bet there are 200 hives getting knocked over/ pushed over/ hit with a truck/ whatever on there.
There is a lot of stupid out there, and it ain't all kids doing it.
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Call me jaded but outside of this forum I've never heard of someone being bold enough to vandalize a apiary.
Some days I'm afraid of my own bees.
We live in the city.
All that aside I can't even begin to imagine the conversation that would conclude to such a thing.
Gearless, smokeless, ignorant and quite frankly heartless.
Look it up on youtube. I bet there are 200 hives getting knocked over/ pushed over/ hit with a truck/ whatever on there.
There is a lot of stupid out there, and it ain't all kids doing it.
there is a lot of stupid everywhere, I think it is coming from the flu shots
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Call me jaded but outside of this forum I've never heard of someone being bold enough to vandalize a apiary.
Some days I'm afraid of my own bees.
We live in the city.
All that aside I can't even begin to imagine the conversation that would conclude to such a thing.
Gearless, smokeless, ignorant and quite frankly heartless.
Look it up on youtube. I bet there are 200 hives getting knocked over/ pushed over/ hit with a truck/ whatever on there.
There is a lot of stupid out there, and it ain't all kids doing it.
there is a lot of stupid everywhere, I think it is coming from the flu shots
LMAO!!! That right there is funny...
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File a police report. Having the police come over, talk to you, then them, as they would be closest possible "witnesses" should deter them. And if they happen to be covered in stings, which should be pretty obvious by now, when the officer talks to them, all the better and more convenient.
You don't need them spreading the word that your "killerbees", un-provoked, attacked them at their barbeque or whatever other story they might spread to cover their stings, if they did it.
That way also, if other damage is done to your hives and bees, there is also a record that it was not an isolated incident. Hidden game cam sounds like a smart idea too.
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My boy told me once that he didn't need that stupid flu shot.
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actually he was right, vitamin D is just as effective as the flu vaccine
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May God watch over city folks :-D Make sure that when the police show up you see that they leave with a quart or so of the Golden-Love-O-the-Bees! Not a bribe, no no no. Its a reminder of what the world would be missing due to such heinous acts of wanton distruction. And if that didn't work I'd put the next swarm I found in the butthead neighbors freakin car. :evil: