SKOWHEGAN — Police are investigating the theft of 20 to 25 bee boxes from property off U.S. Route 201 south of Varney Road.

Bee owner Robert Egan last saw the nucs, or nuclear bee colonies, Thursday afternoon and they were gone when he returned around 8 a.m. Friday, according to police Deputy Chief Dale Lancaster.

“They took only nucs with fully established colonies,” Lancaster said Friday.

Lancaster described the nucs as a foot deep, 14 to 16 inches long and eight inches wide.

“Mr. Egan sells them, and they’re valued at over $100 apiece,” Lancaster said.

A website for Bee Progress describes a nuc as a nuclear hive, about four frames from a working hive that include a queen bee. They are starter hives for beekeepers and are sold by bee keepers, Lancaster said. Nuc boxes are typically cardboard, according to the website.

Lancaster said Egan thought the theft may have happened at night because bees are less active then.

The type of bees in the nucs are a subspecies of the western honey bee known as carniolan, according to Lancaster. They were taken from an unmarked site, he said.

Lancaster asked that anyone with information about the theft call police at 474-6908.

Egan could not be reached for comment.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com