Bee industry buzzing: Stolen hives recovered in California

FRESNO, Calif. — The bee industry is buzzing over the arrest of a California man accused in one of the biggest thefts of beehives on record.

Authorities say the 51-year-old defendant from the Sacramento suburbs stole thousands of hives worth nearly $1 million from California's almond orchards.

Beekeepers across the U.S. rent their colonies out to the state's nut growers to pollinate the trees.

Hives are worth big money, in part because of the boom in the almond industry and the unexplained mass die-offs of bees in recent years.