BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Helen
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 08:46 PM

Thieves sting beehive owners during honey shortage


Posted Thu Aug 14, 2003 12:15pm AEST

Last year's bushfires and the current drought situation have had an unexpected side-effect on the NSW south coast.

The factors have combined to bring about a honey shortage, which has driven up prices and sparked a wave of beehive thefts.

Twenty beehives went missing from Mogo recently, and police have received numerous reports of stolen beehives from Wandandian to Mogo.

Batehaven beekeeper Keith Gruber has been in the business for almost 60 years and says this is the worst spate of thefts he has ever seen.

Mr Gruber had 20 of his hives stolen from Termeil and says he has heard reports of thefts from as far afield as Bega.

It is believed rising honey prices are driving the thefts.

Increased overseas demand combined with a honey shortage has forced up the supermarket price to more than $10 a kilo and the wholesale price to more than $4.40.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 02:08 PM

True.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 01:54 PM

And not to feed it to anyone under 2 years old?

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 12:52 PM

Incidentally, while true that honey does not 'spoil', it is also documented that honey can host threads of molds and toxins. Did you know that doctors caution against honey use for those persons who are severely allergic to penicillin?

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 12:36 PM

This is a honey of a thread, but it's starting to be apis-po of nothing but puns. I admit to being a drone, but who will be queen?

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 12:31 PM

I am beeing have!

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 12:16 PM

Beehave.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 11:54 AM

That must be the strange buzzing I can hear. Or maybe it's the swarm making a beeline for us! Better fly!

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 11:36 AM

Gad, Liz, the sting in your reprimand has forced me to comb through my hive of a mind to find an appropriate response.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 10:49 AM

So no one has yet beeswaxed lyrical about this?

You're all beehiving appallingly...

Now buzz off and think of something.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 10:37 AM

Obviously, he was not too successful there. You might say he came to a sticky end.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 09:22 AM

Bit sticky making his getaway, I'd think.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 08:45 AM

"Use by" date of honey?

Honey is one of (if not the only)the few foods that don't spoil. The sugar content in it is so high that it kills microorganisms that might get into it. Fact.

Under some temperature conditions honey may crystallize, but that's not spoiled. It's still just as good and nutritious as ever, although perhaps not as visually appealing.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: skipy
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 08:08 AM

Perhaps he owned the equipmet for meadhing & intended to kill a decsendant of King Fjolnir!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 07:45 AM

Doesn't honey remain edible for thousands of years? This criminal may have had a long-term plan ...

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: skipy
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 07:20 AM

Perhaps he was going to make it radio active & push the price of his honey stock up!
Could get a book / film out of this, we could call it "goldspoon"
Just a thought.
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 03:07 AM

Good grief. How big a beekeeping operation was it? 5 tonnes? I seem to remember that an English tonne is 1000 kg, a little more than the US ton at 2000 pounds. So approximately 11,000 pounds?

One would think the honey would have gone to market long since.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 12:38 AM

Yeah, it does make you wonder, doesn't it? I bet Chongo could get to the bottom of this one...but the guy's already been caught, so it's not gonna happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Helen
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 11:20 PM

And, I forgot to say, Woodford is where a major Oz Folk Festival is held every year.

Woodford Folk Festival

Helen

Subject: BS: Shot dead for $40K of liquid gold
From: Helen
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 11:16 PM

Is there a song in this, or a novel?

I want to know the full story, because I can't imagine how this would have unfolded.

Did he decide to rob a beekeeper's supply of honey and make a quick buck, so he shot the beekeeper and stole his stock? Did they have an argument and the man murdered the beekeeper and then thought, I might as well take his stock of honey and sell it?

And how would you sell that much honey? Is that how the murderer was caught? Was he standing at a produce market stall with a few tonnes of honey and a big sign up saying "This isn't my honey but I'm selling it anyway!"?

Or did the murderer think he could stash the honey and sell it later? How do you store 5 tonnes of honey? What is its use-by date? Wouldn't someone have noticed five tonnes of honey in his back shed?

Just after the murder was discovered the police were calling for help from the beekeeping industry to see if anyone could give them any clues on who the murderer might be. It must have worked.

Man charged with beekeeper murder

A 33-year-old man charged with the murder of a beekeeper on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has been remanded in custody.

Donald Robert Alcock from Tenterfield in New South Wales is accused of shooting Anthony Ross Knight, 41, at his home near Woodford on May 30.

Mr Knight's body was found five days later and forensic tests confirmed he had been shot.

Mr Alcock has also been charged with robbery with violence and stealing up to five tonnes of Mr Knight's honey, worth about $40,000.

He did not apply for bail and will appear in the Caboolture Magistrates Court again in August.