Camera busts thieves raiding beekeeper's honey supply

BERTHOUD, Colo. — A beekeeper in Colorado got so sick of someone stealing her honey she installed a camera. Now the crime has been captured on video and she's looking for help getting the perpetrators to stop.

Marie Koolstra's honey stand has attracted visitors for more than 20 years.  Since 1995, Koolstra's backyard has been filled with bees. The honey they produce was bottled and sold from a box outside her home.

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Over the years, she's had a bottle or two go missing, but this year, those thefts have become more common.

Koolstra has found her box completely empty multiple times.

"When you got a self-serve box, you are vulnerable," Koolstra told KDVR. "It was never this persistent, always ongoing thing."

Koolstra installed a Ring security system hoping to catch the thieves, and she did. Three separate times, the thieves hit her stand. The video shows a man passing dozens of bottles through an open car window to eager hands in a dark SUV.

Koolstra said that at this point, he's probably stolen at least $1,000 worth of honey from her box.

"This man will put me out of business," said Koolstra. "I'm looking for him to stop, that's what I want him to do is just stop."

The Weld County sheriff is investigating and hopes the video will provide new leads.

CNN/KDVR