Posted on 01/17/2018 12:44:20 PM PST by nickcarraway
A bee killer toppled 100 beehives in Prunedale and sprayed hundreds of thousands of honey bees with gasoline over the weekend.
The honey bees were being kept on Mike Hickenbottom's Prunedale property along Eacho Valley Road during the winter. The bees are owned by a man who lives in the Central Valley, where it's too cold during winter months, and they like feeding from eucalyptus trees that flower on the Central Coast during this time of year.
Advertisement Hickenbottom believes his neighbors were behind the incident, partially because they had complained to him three times.
The bees are allowed to fly freely around the property, and Hickenbottom's neighbors said their children were too scared to go outside.
Hickenbottom said the Italian and Russian honey bees are not aggressive.
"I go up around the bee boxes without any protective clothing on. I've never been stung," he said.
Beekeeper Alfonzo Perez KSBW Beekeeper Alfonzo Perez The vandals struck sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday.
"Somebody came here, and tipped over all the boxes, and sprayed them with diesel fuel. It killed a whole bunch of bees," beekeeper Alfonzo Perez.
An estimated 200,000 bees died.
Perez leases the hives to pollinate almond trees growing on farms across Californian.
The bee killing cost Perez more than $50,000, a huge chunk of his annual salary.
"I just feel really bad for Alfonzo because he work so hard to support his family. Then somebody goes and does something like this," Hickenbottom said.
DONATE: If you want to donate to beekeeper Alfonzo Perez, click here
A police report was filed with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. No arrests have been made.
Are these really skinny bees?
What makes them boney bees?
I paused a minute to scratch my head, wondering what a “boney bee” was.
Boney Bees?
They must be like hipsters.
That’s just stupid.
I use to play on my uncle’s bee farm and rode my bike through bees as they were flying around.
Never been stung.
In fact, if I find a bee in the house I usually scoop them up on my hand, walk outside and tell em “Go Home” as I set them loose.
Drives people crazy when I do it too but, I hate killing them.
Some people are just plain evil...................
Maybe they are Scottish bees?
Whoever did this needs to be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And then some.
Prunedale’s motto.....
“Come To Prunedale And We’ll Help You Go!”
They have no "H" .....
I hear people call it, “Prunetucky.”
As soon as I saw the misspelling I knew what was coming and burst out laughing.
But as for the real story that is really rotten. The same God who made the bees I hope will find the bees justice.
I got a girl name a Boney Maroney.
“The Browngrass City!”
I have a uncle who lives in South Jersey. He used to raise honey bees. I have a picture somewhere with him and his Bee Beard. Same thing. Whenever I visited him I never worried and was never stung once.
My wife keeps a couple of hives in our back yard. I run the lawn mower around them, pick figs off our tree just a few feet from the hives, and I’ve been stung once. Very interesting creatures to observe.
None of our neighbors have complained as far as I know and we’re right in the middle of town.
I hope the cops can get the vandals and the owner can get his 50K back. I don’t know what goes on in some peoples heads.
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