Tulare business out $65K after beehives are stolen

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Tulare business has to start from scratch after nearly all of its beehives were stolen over the weekend.

For three years, Jacob Lucio has built his beehive business, L & W Beekeeping, from the ground up.

Last week, he placed all his pallets of bees on this land on Avenue 180 and Road 168.

He says the season for pollination in the Central Valley was coming to a close.

" This is not where the bees were going to stay the rest of the year. It was a holding yard, I was treating my hives and making sure they were healthy and they were going to go to their yards where they needed to go," explained Lucio.

His plans quickly changed,

When he showed up on Saturday morning, the lot that once had about 65 pallets of bees only had one.

"What you see here, just one. This is what they left me with," Lucio said.

His loss averages about $65,000.

Lt. Bobby Rader with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office says bee thefts have doubled this year compared to last with six reported cases so far.

He says tracking down the people responsible can be challenging.

" What we find is that people who steal bees are other beekeepers themselves or they are involved in the business. But they are people who understand how to handle bees and have the proper equipment to handle them," said Lt. Rader.

Lucio says most of his hives are marked with his company name and remains hopeful they'll be found before it's too late.

"Never thought it would happen to me and all I can do now is try and prepare for the future," Lucio said.

"He is pretty much starting from scratch and he is going to get our very best effort to find his bees," added Rader.

Lucio says what happened is not stopping him from continuing his beekeeping business and remains hopeful that some or all 65 pallets will be found.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Tulare County Sheriff's Office.

A GoFundMe has been started to help the business.

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