Richard Marquette spent decades caring for his bees — tiny workers who kept his Citrus County property buzzing and his bank account afloat. But when the 84-year-old beekeeper stopped by his empty lot in late July, she felt something. His main source of income was simply distributed from there.
Twenty hives — about two million bees and anywhere from $8,000 to $16,000 in honey per harvest — are gone. Each box had Marquette’s initials, his state registration number and the honey he was relying on to get by while on medical leave from his Walmart job sealed inside.
Instead of bees, Marquette found contractors cutting down trees nearly 50 feet inside his property line. When he asked what had happened to the hives, he was told that they had been “moved” by someone who claimed to own the land.
“How can someone come onto my property and take my bees and not return them and not be sorry?” Marquette told Tampa Bay 28 (1).
When the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office moved in, deputies traced the missing beehives to Joseph Denick, the man who bought the lot next to Marquette’s. According to the incident report, a land clearing crew mistakenly crossed the Marquette side of the property line and Denick admitted to telling a friend to remove the hive.
He also told the deputies that he is ready to return them. But more than 90 days later, the bees still haven’t returned. Beekeeping experts estimate that each hive can generate $200 to $500 a year, depending on where the hives are located, how they are managed and the local demand for honey and bee products.
“The sheriff’s department closed the case and I’m out my money and my job and my honey crop and future honey crops,” Marquette said.
When reached for comment, Denick acknowledged that he posted on Facebook offering the beehives to anyone willing to collect them. He said that “a friend of a friend” finally took them although he would not say who. He declined an on-camera interview from Tampa Bay 28 and says he plans to take the matter through the courts.
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Marquette has kept bees since he was 10 years old long before sidelines became the financial lifeline they are today. And he leans on his hives the same way millions of Americans do: to bridge the gap when life doesn’t quite pick up.