In the Detroit news this week

[danno]

Tragic but I think someone has there numbers wrong
 
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit man told police someone sprayed his backyard bee colonies with pesticide, killing all roughly 700,000 of the insects and destroying their honey.

Timothy Fitch said Tuesday that the destruction took place sometime between Jan. 15 and March 8 outside his home in Sterling Heights,” The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reports. He estimated the cost of the loss at more than $14,000.

“They didn’t bother anybody,” said Fitch, a Grosse Pointe middle school teacher. “The neighbors had no problem with them and grandkids, my kids, everybody played in the backyard and the bees didn’t bother anyone.”

Police are investigating.

[BlueBee]

Here’s a photo of the guy beside 4 of his 7 hives he values at $14,000.  He claimed each hive is worth $2000!



And here’s the story.

http://www.macombdaily.com/article/20130312/NEWS01/130319863/vandals-kill-700-000-honey-bees-in-sterling-heights-backyard

I do feel sad for his loss, but come on, $2000 a hive?  Are they lined with gold?  Maybe I need to bump up the value of my poly hives. :-D

[AllenF]

I am wondering if the hives were really sprayed.  Did he have the bees tested?  And at 2 grand, I would drive my hives up there to sell to him. 

[buzzbee]

I wonder too. The third year is often the breaking point if mites get out of control.So often people think if they make it through the first winter that they have survivor stock.
 And this is the time of year that makes or breaks a colony too.
I can tell you from experience a cement brick on the metal top located above the hole in the inner cover made a bad spot for a condensation point. These things are like a heat sink amking the cover really cold in that spot. If I weight the covers it is on the outer edges now.

[RHBee]

I can tell you from experience a cement brick on the metal top located above the hole in the inner cover made a bad spot for a condensation point. These things are like a heat sink amking the cover really cold in that spot. If I weight the covers it is on the outer edges now.

Thanks for the tip.