MIAMI – A Miami man was arrested after he stole bees and their hives from a property over the course of several days, police said.
Yoel Torres, 54, faces charges of second-degree grand theft, trespassing and criminal mischief.
According to a police report, Torres was spotted on surveillance video climbing through a barbed-wire fence and stealing bee hives from the property where beekeeper Wainsworth Brown stores his colony.
Miami-Dade police said surveillance video showed Torres entering the property on several occasions, putting on a bee suit and removing the bee hive boxes, placing them in the bed of his truck.
An unidentified woman could also be seen in the video standing outside the property, apparently acting as a lookout during the theft.
Police said Torres would remove the tops from several other bee hive boxes before returning later to steal them.
The police report said the loss of bees cost Brown $3,500, but Brown told Local 10 News that the loss was significantly more.
According to the report, Torres later admitted to taking the bees, telling police they seemed abandoned. Torres also said he learned the property used to belong to Graham Companies in Miami Lakes and spoke to someone who gave him permission to take the hives.
Torres has since bailed out of jail.