A beekeeper fears she has become the victim of honeymaker’s grudge after 23 of her precious hives were vandalised twice.
Debra Cruttenden, 62, from Dorset was devastated to find her collection of wooden hives hidden away in a remote private woodland had been trashed last month.
The grandmother, who has been beekeeping for 23 years, assumed the first attack was the work of bored teenagers after discovering her hives kicked over and stamped on.
With the help of the local community Mrs Cruttenden was able to repair six of them after neighbours and friends raised £5,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.
But just days later Mrs Cruttenden, who owned 30 hives in total, returned to the isolated Dorset wood in the village of West Moors to find the hives had been kicked over again.
She now believes the two attacks are the work of a fellow beekeeper with a grudge after dismissing the possibility that her hives had been attacked by animals or blown down in a gust of wind.
The grandmother said the five-acre plot of land is in the middle of nowhere, 400 yards from the nearest track and two miles from the nearest village.
The 62-year-old said she has never had issues of vandalism before and nobody living in the rural area she has spoken to has seen any youths hanging around.
Debra Cruttenden, 62, from Dorset (pictured) was devastated to find 23 out of her collection of 30 wooden hives had been trashed by vandals
The grandmother, who has been beekeeping for 23 years, assumed the first attack was the work of bored teenagers after discovering her hives kicked over and stamped on
Mrs Cruttenden (pictured)has repaired six of the 23 damaged hives after neighbours and friends raised £5,000 through a GoFundMe campaign
Mrs Cruttenden said: ‘My hunch is that it’s a fellow beekeeper. It just smacks of jealousy and somebody with a grudge against me.’
‘The first incident we put down to mindless vandalism.
‘Everything that was on the stands was on the floor. It was in all directions so I know it wasn’t the wind and it wasn’t animals because nothing was chewed.’
She added she was ‘gobsmacked’ by the incidents and said: ‘But if kids had done it I don’t think they would have risked or been bothered to go all the way back to the middle of nowhere to do it again.
‘The area has never been an issue before for bored kids and this is the first time we have had such trouble in 23 years of keeping bees.
‘I believe whoever has done it had a motive for doing so. I just think it is someone with a grudge’.
Mrs Cruttenden explained she believes it’s a rival apiarist because of a comment on the GoFundMe campaign launched by a friend.
She explained she became aware of a detrimental comment about her on social media from someone she believes is a beekeeper.
Days after the first attack Mrs Cruttenden, returned to the isolated Dorset wood in the village of West Moors to find her hives had been kicked over again
Mrs Cruttenden took up beekeeping in her back garden when she was given her first hive as a 25th wedding anniversary gift
She believes the two attacks are the work of a fellow beekeeper with a grudge after dismissing the possibility that her hives had been attacked by animals or blown over by the wind
Mrs Cruttenden explained she believes it’s a rival apiarist because of a comment on the GoFundMe campaign launched to help her by a friend
The hives were pushed over, stamped on and smashed up with shards of wood stewn on the floor and sections knocked out
The GoFundMe campaign, set up my Mrs Cruttenden’s friend Amanda Nicot has raised almost £6,000
The grandmother said: ‘It just said “you have done well out of this.” This was someone who wasn’t happy about life.’
The GoFundMe campaign, set up my Mrs Cruttenden’s friend Amanda Nicot has raised almost £6,000 and Ms Nicot described her friend as dedicated and devoted to her bees.
She wrote: ‘Totty [Mrs Cruttenden] isn’t just a beekeeper. She’s a guardian of pollinators, a quiet warrior in a bee suit, and a true friend to the environment. Her days are long, her work is hard, and yet she approaches it with a kind of devotion and care that’s rare to witness. She talks to her bees like they’re old friends — because to her, they are.
‘But tragically, for the second time, someone has vandalised her hives. It’s hard to put into words how devastating this is — not just for Totty, but for the precious bees she cares for, and for all of us who rely on them.’
Mrs Cruttenden took up beekeeping in her back garden when she was given her first hive as a 25th wedding anniversary gift and learnt how to care for the insects through YouTube videos and trial and error.
She then started collecting swarms – when a colony splits with a large group of honeybees leaving their hive to start a new colony.
Mrs Cruttenden sells the honey the bees make locally and does educational talks for the Women’s Institute and schools on the importance of the insects
The 62-year-old said she was gobsmacked by the attack and said she has never had any issues with vandals before
When her passion got too big for her garden, she and her husband bought five acres of woodland near the village of West Moors, where they have kept the bees ever since.
Mrs Cruttenden sells the honey the bees make locally and does educational talks for the Women’s Institute and schools on the importance of the insects.
She said: ‘I’m just trying to do my bit to help the planet. Bees are so important, they pollinate three quarters of the food we eat.
‘Bumble bees are important too – they don’t make honey but they pollinate things like raspberries and strawberries.’
