Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Beehives Stolen in George Area

120 beehives worth more than $25,000 were stolen recently from a pollination company in the George area.

Columbia Pollination Manager Dave Smouse said he and some others arrived the morning of April 6th to a truckload of bees they had parked on North Frontage Road.

"We started setting our stuff down, and you could see where about 20 pallets were, but were not there anymore." detailed Smouse, "You could see some forklift tracks too, and it's a different kind of forklift than we have."

The theft is thought to have occurred sometime between April 2nd and 5th.

"This kind of stuff, it happens quite a bit. We've never had this many stolen, but we've had a couple pallets or a hive here or there." Smouse continued, "The kind of disgusting thing is, these people, they don't get in trouble for it. It's just a slap on the hand. If you get your hives back it's because you can prove it."

Smouse added that he thinks the suspect or suspects will put them to work in an apple or cherry orchard soon for the $10,000 to $12,000 payday. The theft of the hives means a loss of roughly $20,000 in revenue just this year.

All beehives and pallets owned by Columbia Pollination are marked with the code "WA-547". Columbia Pollination is only currently operating around Quincy and George, so if anyone sees equipment with the "WA-547" code outside of those two areas they are encouraged to contact either Columbia Pollination (509-760-7975) or the Grant County Sheriff's Office (509-762-1160).