It was when Jan Olofsson was going to look at his beekeeping during the All Saints weekend that he noticed that someone had vandalized the hive boxes, something that South Sweden was the first to tell about.
– Someone had knocked over all seven hives with bee colonies. Some of the bees sputtered a little in one of the frames on the ground, but all the bees were more or less deceased, Jan Olofsson told TV4 Nyheterna.
He has been involved in vandalism before, but not of so many boxes as this time. He can fix the boxes himself, but the honey production has been lost.
– All the frames with beeswax were on the ground and had been eaten by mice and rats, so I had to remelt them to get as much wax out as possible.
Have to buy new bee colonies
For around 25 years, Jan Olofsson has devoted himself to beekeeping. He and his wife usually send the money left over from the sold honey to an orphanage in Nepal, but now there will be no new money for a while.
– It’s not fun. Now I have to try to invest again in the spring and buy in new bee colonies, and it costs around SEK 3,000 per colony.
The first time Jan Olofsson’s beekeeping was vandalized, he caught the perpetrators. There were two 13-14-year-old boys. That time, Jan Olofsson was offered money by the boys’ parents, but instead he invited the boys to join in and repair what they had destroyed.
– And they did, and I think that was an even better lesson than dad taking out his wallet and paying.
People have offered their land
Since the cup boxes were vandalized during the All Saints weekend, Jan Olofsson has received support from people who contacted him.
– Three or four have donated money for the purchase of new bee colonies in the spring, and a few others have contacted me and offered me to set up the apiary on their land. Now I’m a bit in the middle of choosing and deciding whether to stay here or move them.
How does it feel that people reached out and showed support?
– It feels really good, I must say. There are none that I am even familiar with at all.