Artificially inseminated queen bees can cost $1,000. I'm not surprised about the attached article. The only legal precedent was a trial where the judge ruled boxes were branded but frames were not. The keeper got the boxes back, the thief kept the frames and bees. Sorry i cannot find the case reference.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/13/bee-theft-hive-long-island/