[rimutaka]

> NZ manuka honey is now also riven by violent gang crime cashing in on the huge profits. Hive stealing is a thing.

I'd like to see a proof of that. The industry is very consolidated with a few dominant players and a lot of small beekeepers who happened to have manuka on their private land. It went through a boom, prices crashed and most unsavory operators moved on. There may be some opportunistic hive stealing, but that always existed even before manuka was the thing.

[ggm]

Headlines stop around 2019. So you're probably right, it's old news. And, to be fair, it happens/happened here too: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-02-27/beekeepers-call...

[EdwardDiego]

Anecdotally, (as in, what I hear on the local grapevine) it's still going on. Intimidation, hive destruction etc.