GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana beekeeper says thieves got away with 488 beehives he had taken to California to pollinate almond trees.
Lloyd Cunniff told the Great Falls Tribune that it appeared the thieves used semitrailers to steal about 190,000 bees between Monday night and Tuesday morning in Yuba City, Calif. He said he was storing the bees on a fellow beekeeper's property before moving them to Fresno, where he had a contract to pollinate almond trees.
Cunniff said the theft will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in income. The hives were insured.
Cunniff said he reported the theft to the Sutter County sheriff's office and learned other beekeepers have reported thefts as well. He said beekeepers also are searching for the missing hives.