More than 100,000 bees have been targeted by rustlers in the past month alone – and keepers fear the culprits are from their own ranks

There was a lump in Katie Hayward’s throat as she spoke about the emotional impact of the thefts that have cast a shadow over Britain’s beekeepers. “The heartbreaking thing is that it’s a very close community. The fact that one beekeeper does this to another is the hardest thing of all,” she says.

Two years have now passed since Hayward’s farm in north Wales was raided, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of bees. But the rustlers have continued to be active. Most recently they have targeted the property of one of her Anglesey neighbours, where around 40,000 bees were taken last month.

The heists have continued in other parts of the country, too. Earlier this month police in Norfolk were called after five hives thought to contain around 60,000 bees and £600 worth of honey were taken. Other known raids this year in Britain have included one in Doncaster in April. Suspicions among beekeepers that the culprits come from their own ranks were underlined by the fact that a bee smoker was left at the scene by someone who presumably knew that it could be used to calm the insects before taking them.

The problem is not restricted to the UK, either. The thefts are of an entirely different magnitude in California, where billions of bees are used to pollinate almond crops. But at least in the Golden State there has been some progress by investigators, who this summer arrested a man accused of stealing almost $1m worth of hives.

In Britain, where the British BeeKeepers Association (BBKA) has been urging members to microchip their hives for some time, the continuing mystery and the belief that the crimes are inside jobs are taking their toll.

“The great tragedy is that this is members of our chapel, so to speak, stealing from other members, so it is very uncomfortable,” said Tim Lovett, a BBKA past president, who said that the thefts and any subsequent extraction of honey would require know-how and access to equipment.

The crimes are taking place against the backdrop of a rise in the number of Britain’s beekeepers from 8,000 to 24,000 in the past decade thanks to successful membership drives that have also inflated the prices of a “nucleus” – a set of wooden frames, bees and a queen. Previously available for about £60, their individual price is now close to £200.

Hayward has a list of 23 people waiting for new hives from her for next year.

But whether the culprits are opportunists or suppliers to a hidden black market, Lovett predicted that the issue was likely to be the focus of deeper discussions among BBKA members.

“I think that the way beekeepers can protect themselves most of all is by encouraging members to report dodgy behaviour and I’m afraid that we have to get a bit of a ‘bee-stazi’ going here,” he said. “Whereas the tendency is to trust everyone in your local association it may be time to become a little bit more questioning.”

On the windswept north Anglesey coast, Hayward has already been taking steps in an even more hi-tech direction to supplement the noisy geese she has bought on police advice and the tracking cameras that she has concealed around her farm.

Soon, her hives will be fitted with equipment en route from the US which will measure humidity and temperature and have GPS tagging linked to her iPhone.

“If someone lifts the lid off one of my hives I will know because the temperature will change,” she explained at her honey farm and education centre. An award-winning enterprise whose activities include bee therapy work with troubled youngsters, Felin Honeybees was built up after Hayward had a stroke in 2012 and decided to leave a high-pressure project manager job for a pursuit which has been in her family for generations.

The 41-year-old was relaxing in the family home just yards away from the scene of the last raid when a witness saw a man in a beekeeper’s suit carrying some of Hayward’s hives to a car at around 9.30pm one evening.

It’s an experience she talks of in the context of her own personal circumstances – “You know when you are living your dream and then someone comes along and sort of makes it a nightmare?” – and against the backdrop of a more widespread recent rise in rural crime.

The latter trend has seen claims for theft rise by more than 20% in the first half of 2017, according to the farm insurance company, NFU Mutual. A spokesman there said it had noted “a worrying number of beehive theft claims in recent months, including one claim for almost £10,000”.

While Hayward is full of praise for the specialist rural crime team in her area – a pioneering unit set up by North Wales Police – the National Farmers’ Union remains deeply concerned about the scale of burglaries, arson and vandalism experienced by rural communities.

Too often, the union says, farmers feel the police response is inadequate and the sentencing too lenient. It’s a view seemingly shared by one of the latest victims of bee rustling, Norfolk bee keeper Simon Greenwood, who told the Observer that police had taken some photos of the scene, fingerprinted a can and then sent him a letter to say no further action was being taken.

“Then I had another letter to say they would be offering me counselling if I wanted it, which sort of made me laugh,” said Greenwood, who is determined to press on with his business.

“It hasn’t stopped me. It’s just made me more aware of where my hives are located and make sure they are in a more suitable, more secure place. Out of the way – out of sight, out of mind,” he added.

Hayward was equally upbeat, and planning to donate one hive to help the neighbours who had been raided. “You have to take it on the chin and carry on,” she said.