130,000 honeybees rescued from chimney are stolen
130,000 honeybees rescued from the chimney of a house in Leicestershire have been stolen.
The bees had created a 15-foot honeycomb from behind the blocked up fireplace in the living, to the top of the chimney.
The bees and their queen were transferred to a new hive at Barlestone, near Market Bosworth - leaving them in woodland in seven separate boxes with their honeycomb and hundreds of larvae.
Peter was planning to donate the honeybees to a wildflower farm nearby.
But after he left the site just before midnight on Tuesday 23 June, two vehicles drove onto the site and – Peter suspects – used a vacuum machine similar to his own to remove the bees.
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He said he usually parked in a nearby lane and walked to the hive site, which he thought was unknown to anyone else.
When he returned to the site this morning, he could see that two separate tyre marks led from the road to the site of the hives. The thieves had opened a gate and driven into the woodland off Newbold Road.
A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said the theft was believed to have taken place some time between 11pm yesterday, and 10.45am today.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the police on 101.