500,000 Bees Killed in Netherlands Deliberate Blaze.
A Dutch beekeeper has expressed dismay after his ten colonies were burned down in a public garden in the city of Almere, causing the loss of an approximated half a million bees.
The beekeeper mentioned that every colony housed a population of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the thought that someone could kill them was devastating.
"It really hurts that my 10 hives have died," he told local broadcaster.
Police in Almere, which sits to the northeast of Amsterdam, have requested witnesses after the arson attack on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted images of the fire on social media.
The Netherlands authorities says that more than half of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of extinction, as the population of bees declines around the world.
The beekeeper said that police had informed him an accelerant had been used to burn the colonies, which were placed on pallets in a forested area of the garden.
Almost none of the bees made it through and he said that he had little faith the arsonist would be apprehended.
Another apiarist Heleen Nieman stated on national radio that she had three hives and planned to donate one of them.
For Mr Stringer, who looked after the colonies for about almost a decade, the fire means building a fresh hive in the area from scratch.
But he affirms he will not give up.
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