Russian-speaking immigrants stole bees for $ 200 thousand from Californian beekeepers

Фото: Depositphotos

A beekeeper from Shuto, Montana, Lloyd Canniff, in mid-January 2017, announced the disappearance of 488 hives and equipment from his property in California, where he transported bees for the period of pollination of almonds. He feared that he would no longer see them again, because the hives were new, and he did not have time to mark them.

But on May 14, about 70% of stolen equipment was returned to the owner through police action, reports Great falls tribune.

Canniff keeps the bees returned now far from the city and their main farm, in case they are infected with the disease or ticks, since this can only be determined by autumn.

In January, Kanniff was one of the 10 victims in the 7 counties of California, who, according to law enforcement officers, were stolen by bees from representatives of the Ukrainian-Russian group of beekeepers. Police say that before that, Ukrainians and Russians often stole bees from each other. They have a very bad reputation among other bee owners in the region.

However, there was no evidence of their involvement in the thefts. But in late April, one of the American employees in the Ukrainian-Russian beekeeping industry noticed that one of the beehives corresponded to the description of the stolen beehive, which was told to him by a friend from Missouri. He reported this to law enforcement officers, and the investigation was resumed.

Law enforcement officers found 3 locations associated with alleged thieves. They rented pasture, which they used for the nursery of bees, and hives hid in the drainage along the road.

The police were able to detect the beehives of all 10 victims, they arrested two men who committed the theft, but the investigation is still ongoing, so further arrests are not excluded.

The cost of the stolen equipment amounted to $ 224 is thousands, police managed to return equipment worth $ 170 thousands. Part of the stolen could not be found, and some beehives became unusable due to damage. The thieves managed to earn about $ 100 thousand stolen.

After the theft, Kanniff received compensation from the insurance company, and with this money he acquired new 508 hives with bees, so the bees found after the theft are technically owned by the insurance company, and if they are healthy, he will try to buy them back.

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