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Bears Brazenly Steal 100 lbs of Honey Worth $1,200

By Deanne Katz, Esq. on October 17, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Winnie the Pooh is famous for his love of honey but at least he's not implicated as part of a group of bears that is stealing honey in Seattle.

Ballard Bee Co. lost more than 100 pounds of honey during a robbery that occurred sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Beekeepers are pretty sure the culprits walk on four legs and use their paws to get what they want.

There's no sheriff that's going to go out arresting a bunch of bears. But if they did those bears would wish they'd stuck to berries and fish.

Beekeepers arrived Wednesday morning to find a fence had been pushed down and two hives had been destroyed. The bears weren't subtle in their attempt to get to the sweet stuff.

Owner Corky Luster wasn't angry at the bears but no one could blame him if he was a little sad about the damage.

All told the honey heist caused about $1000 in damage to the small pollination service Luster runs in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. That includes lost honey, damaged honeycomb and hives, and dead bee larvae, reports the Associated Press.

If it had been a human burglar the punishment could be severe for that kind of theft and property damage. Luckily for the thieves, bears don't fall within a court's jurisdiction.

Bears are wild but if the damage was done by a domesticated animal, Luster might be able to collect from the owner. If your pet hurts someone or something you're still responsible ever if Fluffy's 'animal nature' made him do it.

The bear culprits aren't getting away scot free even if Luster isn't sure exactly which bear broke in to the farm.

He's repaired the fence and strengthened it to keep out would-be honey eaters. In case that's not enough the fence is also now electrified, reports Associated Press.

The honey thieves aren't the only bear criminals out there these days.

Last month an innocent-looking cub brazenly stole an iPad from a hiker who was enjoying a lazy day of fishing. Perhaps the honey thief was hoping to trade in his stash for an iPad of his own.

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