500,000 Bees Perish in Dutch Deliberate Blaze.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has voiced dismay after his ten colonies were set ablaze in a public garden in the city of Almere, causing the loss of an approximated 500,000 bees.
The beekeeper mentioned that each hive housed a population of 40-60,000 bees, and the idea that anyone could kill them was devastating.
"It really hurts that my 10 hives have died," he told regional media.
Police in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have requested observers after the arson attack on Tuesday night in the city's scenic Beatrixpark. They posted images of the blaze on online platforms.
The Netherlands authorities reports that more than half of the country's 360 species of bee are at threat of dying out, as the number of bees declines globally.
Mr Stringer explained that police had told him an flammable substance had been employed to ignite the colonies, which were placed on pallets in a wooded part of the garden.
Almost none of the insects made it through and he said that he had little faith the perpetrator would be caught.
Fellow beekeeper Heleen Nieman told national radio that she had three hives and planned to give him one of them.
For Mr Stringer, who cared for the colonies for about nine years, the fire means starting a new colony in the park from the beginning.
But he insists he will continue his efforts.
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