A 47-year-old Arborfield man has been charged with theft over $5,000 in the theft of bee colonies from a bee yard near Zenon Park, south west of Arborfield.

Police believe the theft happened sometime between 4 p.m. May 10 and 11 a.m. May 13, when about 150 bee colonies were reported stolen, valued at $60,000.

On Sunday, White Butte RCMP received a tip from the public regarding the location of the stolen bee colonies, RCMP say. RCMP and the property owner were able to identify and recover most of the bees.

Zenon Park is about 280 kilometres north east of Saskatoon and 50 kilometres south east of Nipawin.

The man is set to make his first court appearance June 20.