It wouldn't even have to be every hive, just every second or even third. Enough to point to the thief and arrest him. Unless we're talking about thieves which o

It wouldn't even have to be every hive, just every second or even third. Enough to point to the thief and arrest him. Unless we're talking about thieves which only steal one hive at a time. I also doubt they're selling those hives immediately and each to different buyer. Alternatively, you could have an alarm system which turns on the light (so bees can fly) and sounds the most obnoxious car horn possible, to make bees defend themselves.