Hive theft
Brand the box. FL0 is the number Florida issued.
Beekeepers get robbed. Most of it is stolen or wrecked hives. Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry is the UF/IFAS paper. Zettel Nalen and Ellis. Prevention first. Recovery is harder if the wood has no mark. woodenware is how the box itself lasts. This page is how it stays yours.
The best defense against beekeeping-related crime is prevention.
The number starts FL0
Register with FDACS-DPI Apiary Section. The firm number always starts FL0. Florida law quoted in Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry: permanently imprint every hive on the upper left-hand corner, letters at least one-half inch high. Paint, permanent marker, or a hot brand. Hives branded before 22 November 1988 can keep that old code if it is registered. Rule 5B-54.013 is the current ownership mark: upper left of the hive bodies, same half-inch letters. Transfer keeps the old brand and puts the new one below it within six months. Altering or wiping a brand is a violation of that chapter.
Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry also wants a personal brand on supers, frames, lids, bottoms, and pallets, not only the brood box. A marker that will hold a half-inch FL0 on pine. Get this. A GPS tracker on a random hive in a yard that actually moves. Get this. The paper says pick boxes at random. Companies change. The job is a mark law enforcement can swear to.
If the boxes are already gone
Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry order: call the local sheriff. Then the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (the paper prints 1-800-342-5869) with the county name. Then FDACS-DPI Apiary Section. The Chief of Apiary Inspection tells Florida inspectors to watch for that FL0 and personal brand. Move the remaining yard after local officials finish. Without a mark, proving the wood is yours is the hard part.
This page does not sell a lock. It is Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry plus the branding rule. Commercial yards also post a 5 by 9 inch placard with owner name and phone under 5B-54.013. Read the paper, then call DPI if the number on the box is still blank.
Is paint enough?
Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry: paint, permanent ink, or a hot brand, as long as it is permanent and at least half an inch in the upper left corner. A pencil date on the back is not the law.
Who do I call first?
The sheriff. Then Agricultural Law Enforcement. Then FDACS-DPI. Inspectors cannot start watching a number they have not been told.
Sources
- Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry. Zettel Nalen and Ellis. Prevention. FL0. Then the sheriff.
- Rule 5B-54.013, Identification of Ownership of Honey Bee Hives. Upper left. Half-inch letters. Keep the old brand on a transfer.
- FDACS apiary inspection. Registration and the inspector desk Theft, Vandalism, and Other Related Crime in the Beekeeping Industry points at.