A TEENAGER who got a buzz from keeping bees is upset that someone stole his hive complete with the occupants.

Jacques Moss, 15, from Sissinghurst said: “I had heard about bee keeping and thought I would like to give it a try. I have always liked honey.”

He got himself the hive and bees from his uncle’s former boss and installed them at Whitegate Farm on the Biddenden Road. The site was about two large fields away from any road.

The Angley School student, who lives in Cleavers Place, said: “They had been there for about six months but when I went to look at them recently they had gone.

“To start with I thought the owner of the land might have moved them but he hadn’t.”

Undeterred by the theft, Jacques is now searching for another hive and a swarm of bees.

“I am not giving up. I have been on the web and if I do get another hive I shall put it on the flat roof on part of our house so I can keep an eye on them.”

It is possible that the thieves used smoke to subdue the bees before moving the hive. If they were not suitably covered and failed to smoke the bees they could have been badly stung. Jacques was hoping to harvest his first lot of honey in October.

Landowner Cyril Boulding said: “The hive was right down the bottom of my field by a lake and could not be seen from the road.

“Whenever bees are moved they must be taken more than three miles away otherwise they will return to the same site.”

It is believed the hive with the bees was worth about £100.

According to the old country saying: “A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly.”