Claims of Millions of Bees in RI Being Doused in Gasoline Are Unsubstantiated

Claims of Millions of Bees in RI Being Doused in Gasoline Are Unsubstantiated

Claims of an incident in which “millions” of bees were allegedly doused with gasoline and destroyed in Tiverton are raising more questions than answers, as the individuals who shared the story — and a GoFundMe which has since been removed — have refused to share any information about the purported incident -- at the purported company. 

On Tuesday, “Mooseman’s Kettle Corn” posted the following to Facebook, which garnered thousands of shares and interactions during the first 24 hours it was posted — before it was taken down.

“We received some sad news today from my friend Todd. He is our main supplier of honey for our kettle corn. This happened in Tiverton last night.

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ATTENTION

Sad news here at Ocean Side Honey. I learned today that our bee yard was hit by vandals. Sometime last night someone went into the bee yard and tipped over all the hives, smashed them and doused them with diesel fuel. Not a single bee survived. In all 5.5 million bees are now gone. All the honey is mixed with the fuel. Police are investigating. A total loss. Needless to say there will be no honey this year. I have a long road ahead to rebuild what I have lost and will keep you informed."

When GoLocal contacted Mooseman’s Kettle corn, the response was the following

“I was asked to not give out the contact information but when I get the OK I will be happy to.”

When contacted on Wednesday, the Tiverton police department told GoLocal they had no record of an incident report. 

GoFundMe Started — and Pulled

A GoFundMe page was started by “Michelle Medeiros” to “help Ocean Side honey rebuild again.”

"Ocean Side Honey" does not appear in any online searches. There is no website or Facebook page. 

When contacted, Medeiros told GoLocal, “I am just a friend but I wanted to let you know that I did forward your contact information to this family. Thank you so much.”

The GoFundMe page — who was “trending” due to its popularity — was taken down by Thursday. 

“I took it down because I was told that the donations were not necessary thank you,” said Medeiros. 

Medeiros refused to answer questions about how she knew the purported family or share their information.

Mooseman’s Kettle Corn took down their original post, and replaced it with the following.

“Just to clear things up, Mooseman’s Kettle Corn had no part of the Go Fund Me page. We simply shared a post from a friend that had a bunch of hives with some of the best honey I ever tasted. As far as I know the hives were really destroyed. We take pride in our pro

The company refused additional questions about their relationship with “Ocean Side Honey.”

WPRI.com also reported on the story.