Hundreds of Thousands of Honey Bees Were Poisoned at a Stafford County Farm
The owner of Mason-Dixon Cafe in Fredericksburg has offered to double the farm owner's reward for information about the crime.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Just this past weekend, Kelly Hunt—owner of Mason-Dixon Cafe and Eats Burgers in downtown Fredericksburg—went out with her sister and daughter to get matching tattoos.
As they were trying to decide what tattoo to get, Hunt opened up Facebook and read a story about honey bees working together to rescue three of their sisters who’d become so covered in honey that they could no longer fly.
“It was through the support of their friends and family that they were able to survive,” Hunt said. “It was about sisters and friends and ‘bee’-ing kind. So I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s it exactly!’”
The three women got matching honey bee tattoos to celebrate sisterhood and community support. So when Hunt heard a few days later about hundreds of thousands of honey bees being poisoned on a Stafford County farm, she was so upset and angry that she reached out to the owner and offered to match his $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.
“My daughter came home from work practically in tears about those bees,” Hunt said. “I just can’t wrap my brain around why somebody would want to do that. I thought, ‘Screw it, let’s find these people.’”
Jerry Mattiaccio, owner of Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms, said he discovered the crime on Monday morning.
“One of my guys came and said, ‘You need to look at this. Something’s up with the bees,’” Mattiaccio told the Advance. “I went, and there were dead bees after dead bees after dead bees in front of each of the colonies.”
Someone trespassed on the property, poisoned 52 honey bee colonies, and then locked the gates around the farm with chains and a padlock, Mattiaccio said.
With each of the colonies housing an estimated 15,000 honey bees, that means about 780,000 of Mattiaccio’s bees were killed—a $15,000-$20,000 hit to his business, which sells honey, bees, and beekeeping supplies.
“It’s not going to put me out of business, but it hurts,” Mattiaccio said.
He said he was “flabbergasted” when Hunt reached out with her offer to double the reward.
“It’s really quite incredible,” he said.
Hunt said she’s always loved insects, especially pollinators like bees.
“They’re so important for so many things,” she said. “I just can’t imagine someone doing this. It’s so senseless.”
Hunt said she is also considering hosting a “give-back” night at Mason-Dixon Cafe to benefit of Rock Hill Honey Bee Farm, and Mattiaccio said he’s been overwhelmed by the support of the community.
Anyone with knowledge of the incident should contact Deputy B.E. Vaughn with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office at 540-658-4450, and refer to incident number 25-3463.
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