Half a Million Honeybees Killed in Dutch Deliberate Blaze.
A Dutch beekeeper has voiced dismay after his ten colonies were burned down in a public garden in the city of Almere, resulting in the loss of an estimated half a million bees.
Harold Stringer mentioned that every colony contained a population of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the idea that anyone could kill them was horrific.
"It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have perished," he informed regional media.
Law enforcement in Almere, located to the east of Amsterdam, have requested observers after the arson attack on Tuesday evening in the city's scenic Beatrixpark. They shared images of the blaze on online platforms.
The Dutch government says that more than half of the country's 360 types of bee are at threat of dying out, as the number of bees decreases globally.
Mr Stringer explained that authorities had told him an accelerant had been used to ignite the hives, which were sitting on pallets in a wooded part of the park.
Almost none of the bees survived and he said that he had little faith the arsonist would be caught.
Another apiarist a local beekeeper stated on national radio that she had three hives and wanted to give him one of them.
For Mr Stringer, who looked after the bees for about nine years, the incident means starting a fresh hive in the park from scratch.
But he insists he will not give up.
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- 'One Million Bees' Lost in Deliberate Hive Fire.