THE community is rallying to help a beekeeper after vandals ransacked one of his hives.

Douglas Pearce returned to one of his hive sites in Worthing to find everything had been destroyed.

The 52-year-old, who runs South Downs Honey, said it caused him £4,000 worth of damage at a time when his business is already struggling to survive.

Mr Peace says the incident happened at the apiary in Lambley’s Lane near Worthing, one of six sites he operates.

Usually he supplies honey to farmers’ markets in towns, and to some independent retailers, but sales have been hit hard in recent weeks.

He said: “I don’t know exactly when it happened. The apiary is in the middle of nowhere.

“They had basically gone in, kicked all the hives around, turned everything upside down and thrown everything around.

“I estimate the damage was £4,000, which will take me about two years to recover.

“When I saw what had happened, I was very upset and angry.

“I have been a full-time beekeeper for about three years, it has grown from a hobby I stared in 2011 into a business.

“If I could find the vandals who did this, I would just ask them, why?

“What joy did they get out of it?”

Mr Pearce said he contacted the police, but because there is not enough evidence, the case has been closed.

Now he is left to battle the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. He said: “Business has been badly hit. I used to sell mostly at farmers’ markets in Goring and Shoreham, and through some speciality shops.

“Since then I have continued to supply the shops, and started selling honey over my website, on Facebook and Ebay.

“Because of the weather earlier this year the business was already suffering. Now I have had to tidy up all the mess at the apiary in Worthing.”

But some of his customers have rallied to his aid when Mr Pearce set up a Go Fund Me page and criticised the “pointless” vandalism.

Sarah Wiltshire said: “Sorry to hear about the pointless vandalism. Luckily there are more good than bad people out there. I hope this donation will help you and your family recover.”

Meanwhile Michelle Richards said: “Such a mindless and senseless act, what is wrong with people?”

To donate visit gofundme.com/f/helping-to-recover-from-vandalism-of-beehives.

• At The Argus, we are championing the work of traders during the coronavirus pandemic as part of our #BackingSussexBusiness campaign. We are always interested to hear how the community is coming together in this crisis. If you know of a local business battling to do all it can in these tough times and/or offering support to the local community, please get in touch at laurie.churchman@theargus.co.uk and rose.lock@theargus.co.uk.