The theft of 44 colonies — more than 800,000 bees — from properties across the Atherton Tablelands has shaken an industry already bracing for the advance of the varroa mite. Police and beekeepers describe a methodical operation carried out with specialist knowledge and equipment, suggesting the perpetrators are drawn from within the trade itself.
A heist hidden in plain sight
Tom Bidner, an apiarist based west of Cairns, discovered the losses while checking sites scattered across the region. The thieves did not simply load whole hives onto a truck. Instead, they removed only the brood boxes — the heart of the colony where the queen lays her eggs — transferring frames into their own equipment before reassembling the original hives. From a distance, nothing looked amiss. The honey supers were left untouched.
“They’re rocking up with a truckload of gear, basically, and they’re transferring our frames into their boxes … and putting our hives back together, so it doesn’t sort of alert any of the growers that it looks like someone’s been in and done such a thing,” Bidner said.
Each colony held at least 20,000 bees. The financial blow extends beyond the insects themselves: pollination contracts for the peak avocado season run into thousands of dollars per hive. Growers, too, stand to lose from reduced fruit set.
An inside job?
Detective Sergeant Ben Cross of the Mareeba rural and stock crime squad told the ABC the operation bore the hallmarks of a commercial operator rather than an opportunistic hobbyist. The precision, the equipment, the understanding of hive architecture — all point to someone who knows the rhythm of the industry.
Bidner agrees. “Security wise, in the past, we’ve let the bees do the majority of the job … from time to time, it definitely happens you’ll have someone try and come and tamper with a hive. They usually get about 30 seconds into the job and they’re gone.”
This was different. The thieves worked across multiple properties in different areas. They knew exactly what they were looking for and how to take it without raising alarm.
The parasite at the gate
While beekeepers tally their losses, a second crisis unfolds. Just a week before the thefts came to light, far north Queensland recorded its first detection of varroa mite south of Cairns. The parasite, which reproduces in bee brood, has been marching across Australia since its arrival in Newcastle in 2022. More than $100 million has been spent on containment. In 2023, authorities conceded eradication was no longer feasible. Unchecked, the mite could cost the industry $1 billion over three decades.
Professor Megan O’Mara of the University of Queensland is part of an international team developing new treatments. One promising avenue uses mRNA technology — the same platform that delivered Covid-19 vaccines — to target the mite without harming the bees.
“I’d love to say it’s around the corner. Yeah, it’s a few years off, but we’re making progress,” she said.
A region uniquely exposed
Far north Queensland’s climate compounds the threat. Warm temperatures mean bees brood year-round, giving varroa a continuous reproductive cycle. There is no winter break, no natural pause in the parasite’s advance.
“We haven’t detected mites in our colonies yet but we should be putting our time and energy into that,” Bidner said. “And instead, we’ve had this spate of theft.”
The timing is cruel. Hives are currently deployed across avocado orchards, fulfilling pollination contracts that sustain both beekeepers and growers. Every stolen colony represents a contract unfulfilled, a crop under-pollinated, a financial hole that widens with each passing week.
Why it Matters
The thefts expose a fragile link in Australia’s agricultural chain: pollination security depends on an honour system and scattered hives that are nearly impossible to police. As varroa mite establishes itself across the continent, the industry cannot afford to divert scarce expertise and capital toward replacing stolen stock. The convergence of crime and parasite threatens not just honey production but the pollination services underpinning fruit, nut, and vegetable crops worth billions. If beekeepers cannot trust their own paddocks, the entire food system feels the sting.
