HOMOSASSA, Fla. — An 84-year-old Citrus County beekeeper has been reunited with most of his stolen beehives after his story went viral, generating more than 2 million views and prompting volunteers to help return the insects that serve as his primary source of income.
Richard Marquette discovered someone had removed 20 active beehives from his property in July, taking away his main source of income.
Joseph Denick admitted to arranging for the hives to be moved, blaming the incident on confusion over property lines and promising to return them.
But he didn't follow through.
"I can't figure out why they won't bring them back or at least pay me for the bees or whatever, but I haven't been able to get anything," Marquette said.
Things changed after Marquette's story was broadcast and shared across multiple platforms.
RELATED: Bees in suburbia: Citrus Honey Bee Rescue saves bees as Florida population booms
The story generated thousands of comments and caught the attention of beekeepers throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Last weekend, I-Team investigator Adam Walser received a call from a Pinellas County beekeeper who said Marquette's bees had been located and would finally be returned.
As a truck loaded with beehives pulled up to a dark country road, Marquette was like a kid on Christmas morning.
"It's great.I'm excited to have the bees and all the people who worked hard to get them back for me," Marquette said.
The beehives arrived on a flatbed trailer, weighing an estimated 2,000 pounds.
They were retrieved from two undisclosed Pinellas County locations where they spent 114 days.
Volunteers from Noble Nectar Apiaries in St. Petersburg, who had nothing to do with the hives' disappearance, volunteered to return them.
The volunteers were decked out in white suits,gloves and helmets as they carefully unloaded the precious cargo.
Marquette said 14 of the 20 hives he reported missing made it back.
He feared he might never see them again.
Hundreds of supporters reach out
"Well, it certainly was the only way that we got notified," Marquette said when asked if he had a feeling that putting his story out there would prompt someone to come forward.
Marquette's story was shared across newscasts and social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, reaching millions of viewers worldwide.
"People have called me and been supportive, and it's probably several hundred people have called me on the phone and wished me good luck and praying for me to get my bees back, and I'm sure thankful to get what we did get back," Marquette said.
But his situation was no joke.
Marquette went on medical leave from Walmart after an injury and depended on income from honey sales to get by.
"I sell my honey for $20 a quart," Marquette said.
Each hive can produce 20 to 40 quarts of honey, making the theft a significant financial blow.
His attorney Andy Lyons set up a GoFundMe page to help Richard make up for his loss of income:
Fundraiser by Andrew Lyons : Help Richard Marquette Rebuild His Apiary
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office determined Denick, who bought a lot next to Marquette's property, was responsible for the missing bees.
A report stated there was a miscommunication and the land clearing company mistakenly cleared Marquette's property.
The report said Denick admitted instructing a friend to remove the bees and expressed his willingness to have them returned.
But Denick didn't have them returned, and the sheriff's office closed the case.
When contacted on Nov. 3, Denick said a friend of a friend moved the hives but he didn't know where they were.
He later wrote in a text message that he'd like to handle the matter legally and asked not to be contacted anymore.
"I hope that they have a bad conscience because they should have never ever left my property," Marquette said about the people who had his hives on their property.
The identity of those people remains unknown.
Volunteers return hives from 90 miles away
Allison Davis, whose company Noble Nectar Apiaries returned the bees, emailed the day after Marquette's story aired offering to help him.
"Originally we reached out because some of us beekeepers in Pinellas County, we wanted to kind of take up a collection of equipment and bees to just kind of donate bees back to Richard so he could get back on his feet," Davis said.
After the offer was passed along, Davis received a call from someone associated with Denick asking her to serve as an intermediary to return the bees to Marquette with no questions asked.
"It was just by some random miracle," Davis said.
"God performs miracles every day. I know that for sure," Marquette replied.
Denick's lawyer said his client would be willing to do an interview if his name wasn't used and his face wasn't shown, but we declined, since he was named in the police report and previous story.
He sent multiple text messages admitting his mistake led to Marquette's situation.
Denick wrote in one text message, "I’m actually in communication with the beekeepers. I got them all set up with addresses and was able to retrieve the locations, which by the way needs to be discreet. It was the only way I could get consent. I hope you believe that this was hard for me to get this info."
We shared a text message from Denick with Marquette, in which he said he wasn't good in front of cameras but wanted to give his apologies to Marquette and his family, calling it an honest mistake and saying he was sorry from the bottom of his heart.
Denick's appeal to us to not identify him stemmed from negative comments and threats he says he received on social media after our story.
Marquette said he gave Denick the opportunity to meet in person to work things out, but Denick never showed up and later called to say he didn't need to because it was no big deal.
Marquette is thankful Denick arranged for the return of most of his bees.
"I think they wanted to do the right thing in the end, even if it took a while to get to that point," Allison Davis said.
Marquette thanks volunteers with homemade cookies
She and her team spent about 8 hours retrieving the hives, driving them to Citrus County, setting them up and driving home.
Marquette didn't have much to offer them in return except homemade cookies baked by his wife of 63 years.
Marquette said the worst thing that happened to him in recent months, in some ways, turned out to be the best.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you having your crew and getting the bees back.It about brings tears to my eyes," Marquette said.
"We would just hope somebody would do that same for us," Davis replied.
The Florida bee inspector is scheduled to visit Marquette's hives in the coming days to make sure they haven't been damaged by disease or mites.
Marquette is taking legal action against Denick for the still-missing hives and loss of revenues.
His attorney, Andy Lyons, says he was in contact with a detective from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office regarding the hives Marquette says are still missing.
Share Your Story with Adam
Adam Walser has spent more than a decade fighting for what’s right in Tampa Bay as part of the I-Team. He’s helped expose flaws in Florida’s eldercare system and held leaders accountable for how they use your tax dollars. Reach out to Adam with any issue you think he needs to investigate.
.
'It’s become a health hazard': Treasure Island targets overgrown lawns after Helene
No matter how much he’d like to forget about Hurricane Helene, Scott Baker still sees reminders on all sides of his Treasure Island home.
