Under normal circumstances I would post this as a news article. However Mark McCoy is a member of our local beekeepers association and has been very supportive of our association. He is also a good guy. He is one of the few commercial beekeepers left in South Florida. Recently over a hundred of his hives were vandalized. You can read more here.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/business/epaper/2009/02/09/a4b_beevandals_0210.html (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/business/epaper/2009/02/09/a4b_beevandals_0210.html)
If you can all I ask is that you call him and let him know you are aware of the situation and find it intolerable. Please call him at 561.798.1120 This is not a plea for money but moral support. He does not deserve to have crud like this happen to him.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
Hi Brendhan -
I read this and was outraged too. I know he is not asking for $$ but I would be happy to send a few bucks if it would make a difference - particularly if they get any suspects and it ends up going into litigation.
Please keep us posted if you hear more about it.
Thanks.
- Jess
Wow :-x If it were me, I would have blown a gasket. Does Mark have an email ?
That sucks. :-( How many hives does he have in all? It sounds like this is only a a percent of what he has.
Mark does not have an email he uses. It is just a small percentage of his hives but things like this throw schedules into an uproar. I have no doubt he will recover but he just doesn't need things like this to happen to him.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
Sorry this happened, I pray they get stung or bitten by a poisonous snake.
...JP
This was not random. These crooks knew bees too.
Yea unless any local hospitals got a bunch of punk kids really stung to heck I have to imagine its someone who knew what he was doing.... beekeep vs beekeep =( That sounds pretty bad tho... you figure were all in this together and anyone I've ever talked to has only been supportive...but then again I'm just a hobbiest..maybe its more cuthroat in the business world.
It really is a shame. It to me sounds like a retaliatory act though. Not punk kids
Keith
Brendhan, can you ask him if you could post his business mailing address here?
I agree with Keith. Definitely not bored kids. Most likely a business dealing disagreement acted out. Hopefully they'll brag about it to somebody and will get caught.
Tracy
Just remembered, a beekeeper in Lakeland (about 30 miles east of Tampa) who we know from the Association meetings had about 20 hives sprayed with insecticide last summer. When he went to check this particular yard the entrances were clogged with dead bees and when he took off the tops he found lots of live bees trapped up in there and couldn't get out. He figured they sprayed into all the entrances and ran. Fear/ignorance-real shame.
McCoys Sunny South Apiaries
1586 D Rd
Loxahatchee, FL 33470
561-798-1120
Sincerely,
Brendhan
When I lived in PA, and raised bees, I had my 2 hives, tossed and someone attempted to set them on fire. I called the police and reported the crime. The cop looked at me like I had 6 heads when I offered him a suit and asked him to come down to the bee yard with me. I knew by the lack of notes he was taking that my "crime" was not being taken seriously and that no action would be taken by the local cops. I asked them to contact the local hospitals and check for someone(s) with a high number of stings coming in. No dice. Way to much effort apparently. I then told the cop that if I did not get results that I would be reporting this incident to my state's agriculture department and that it was illegal for anyone to tamper with a hive. Still no dice. To this day I have no idea who trashed the only 2 hives I had. I sure hope no one does this down here in TN. At least down here, where my hives will be is a straight shot out my bedroom window!
when the cops don't seem to care about a crime - write them a letter; at the address bar on top, make it clear that a copy is going to your state attorney's office. The state attorney checks back to make sure they are following through on investigation. it is kind of a "I'm telling your boss on you" kind of thing, but hey - they took the job as cops to fight crime/ enforce the law, so they need to do their jobs.