The British countryside is being menaced by a new type of criminal - bee rustlers.
Beekeepers say the increasing shortage of bees and the rising price of honey have made hives, complete with their inhabitants, a target for thieves.
They say thefts have been reported at bee farms across a wide area - from the New Forest in Hampshire to Whitby in North Yorkshire.
Because specialist knowledge is required to move and keep bees, experts believe that in some cases rival keepers may even be to blame.
'Heartbreaking'
The biggest theft so far happened at a strawberry farm near Telford in Shropshire, where 18 hives containing about a million bees used to pollinate the strawberry crop were stolen.
Police are investigating but there is nothing to suggest local rivalries are to blame in this case.
The theft came as a shock to farm owner Richard Lyndsey.
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Beekeepers Stung by Hive Rustlers
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By James Alexander
BBC News, June 2, 2009
Straight to the Source
