The Fresno, California Sheriff's Department raided a "beehive chop shop" and uncovered $1m worth of bees stolen in "great beehive heists" that have taken place across the bee-starved state.

The sheriffs arrested Pavel Tveretinov, a beekeeper who faces 10 years if convicted. A warrant has been issued for his alleged accomplice, Vitaliy Yeroshenko, who is still at large.



Steve Godlin with the California State Beekeepers Association says the problem of hive theft gets worse every year. "There used to be kind of a code of honor that you didn't mess with another man's bees," Godlin says. But the alleged perpetrators of this giant hive theft broke that code. "He went way, way over the line," Godlin says. "It's just, you know, heartbreaking when you go out and your bees are gone."





Beekeepers Feel the Sting of California's Great Hive Heist [Ezra David Romero/KQED]

(Image: Ezra Romero/NPR)

(via JWZ)