An Okotoks bee farmer is reeling after discovering dozens of his beehives had been stolen.
On Tuesday, April 29, the owner of Honey Meadows Farm, John Zwiers, noticed that hives had been stolen from three separate sites, with one other site being targeted the following day.
By Zwiers' estimate, close to 60 hives were stolen.
Having grown up in the area, with his family having kept bees in the Foothills for 40 years, Zwiers turned to the community.
He posted about the situation in several local Facebook groups, asking community members to keep an eye out.
"I don't often use Facebook, and so when we decided to make the post, it was a bit of an emotional plea because what has happened to us over the last week has just unsettled us and shook the foundation," said Zwiers. "The sheer quantity of bees that were taken, it's unheard of."
Zwiers' posts have seen hundreds of shares, reactions, and comments across several groups
He's hoping someone will have noticed the rather inconspicuous sight of someone transporting or storing a large number of bees.
"Essentially, what we're hoping this accomplishes is that the bees should be returned. That's number one. But also help from the community, because if these culprits don't return them, they are somewhere. It's not as if they're hidden under a tarp. The bees are very visible and they're alive."
This is the first time Zwiers has been affected by this kind of theft, though, and it has had quite an emotional toll on him and his family.
"It's so raw, because it's our livelihood and the bees, they're our livestock. We can't perform our business without them. That's what makes it most unsettling."
It's something he's had trouble explaining to his young daughter.
"As we were driving home from my daughter's daycare yesterday, we were trying to explain to her what had happened, that some bad people had taken bees. The officers had asked us to look for any signs of anything suspicious. And then Sophie says, 'I'm going to search for clues now for the bad men,' and that kind of got me in tears."
As far as evidence goes, Zwiers believes a large flat deck was used to transport the hives, judging from tire tracks at the site and the sheer amount that was taken.
One silver lining is the community response, said Zwiers.
'A big thank you to everybody for even just thinking of us. That's one of the biggest things right now, the awareness and just having us in people's thoughts. The bees have had a tough time just with lots of industry issues, but we've gotten through it, and I'm sure we'll get through this as well. So it's a big thank you to everybody just showing signs of support, and we'll do our best to keep going."