Reward Offered for Arsonist Who Set Dozens of Texas Beehives on Fire

The discovery was made on Saturday, April 27, 2019. A weekend break-in at a pasture in Brazoria County resulted in approximately 20 beehives being torn apart or burned. Still more were thrown into a lake. They were being maintained by the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association, and at a minimum, half a million bees were killed. Police in Alvin, Texas, are in the process of investigating.

Photo: Facebook/Brazoria County Beekeepers Association

“It takes a long time to establish a colony,” Steve Brackmann explained to abc13.com. Brackmann sells queen bees and beekeeping supplies for the establishment and maintenance of beehives. “It can take a year to get a full one, but the queens were probably killed, which means those that survived have nowhere to go.” Bee populations have been dropping globally. In part as a result of herbicides and insecticides clearing out the flora they forage, their numbers are suffering. This group is an extension of the Texas Beekeepers Association and works to protect the environment, using eco-friendly materials in the education and promotion of raising honey bees. “We’re looking at 500,000 to 600,000 that have been destroyed out of that environment,” he said. A reward has been offered for information that leads to an arrest in the arson and damage to the beehives. Those bees which weren’t killed in the weekend’s incident are said to be recovering. Since then, donations have been offered to help the association recover from this loss.

Photo: Facebook/Brazoria County Beekeepers Association

This isn’t the first time that the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association has suffered losses due to someone’s intent to damage their beehives. In 2017, the hives they care for along Hwy.6, just outside of Alvin were knocked over and left out in the rain. A video of the scene and subsequent damage was captured by KHOU 11 at the time.

At present, just over $11K has been raised by the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association as a reward in this particular case, and donations are still coming in. “Tomatoes, squash, watermelons, bees pollinate those,” Brackmann explained to abc13.com. “So if bees don’t pollinate those, you get zero vegetables, we would see next to nothing in the vegetable stores.” This crime has occurred just as the 2019 honey season is getting underway as well, resulting in one member of the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association losing all the honey they hoped to sell at summer farmers markets.