The money raised is a fair bit more than the hives are worth, assuming everything was destroyed (unlikely). At least some bases, lids, mats frames and boxes are likely salvageable, and I’d guess most. Assuming the hives have been properly wintered, they are currently small, so there wouldn’t have been much gear out there. Paying absolute top dollar would get those hives replaced would use about half that raised money. I had a look through Californian supplier sites. Eg $320 for a complete hive at https://billsbees.com/products/bees-complete-hive However a hive is unlikely to be needed, a $220 nuc would be fine, and could be split into 2 or 3 during the season quite happily and a decent beekeeper would be splitting them fast, reducing the cost significantly. Decent hives here have been split more than 20x this season (admittedly it’s a very good season).

It is interesting to see the costs as they aren’t too different from here, though queens are cheaper in New Zealand, and buying boxes of bees to dump into your hive isn’t a thing here.

As others have said here, why was it done? Hive vandalism is a thing all over the world, but it’s usually a few hives knocked over or mass damage by stock. Messing with 50 is unlikely to be much fun.

Edit: The story linked here isnt complete or very good. Yes, most the hive equipment looks salvageable though the bees are now dead. However a storage shed was broken into and vandalised, gear was smashed. Extractors and processing equipment can be very expensive and it’s a hell of a mess in there. The focus on the bees is likely because that’s what the beekeepers focused on. Having 50 hives killed when you have nursed them from a frame or 2, saved from disease, wintered etc would be heartbreaking. Yes, an extractor and store shed could contain very expensive gear but it’s soulless steel and tools.

http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/vandalism-destroys-ha...

https://www.google.co.nz/amp/whotv.com/2017/12/29/vandals-de...