Half a Million Honeybees Killed in Netherlands Fire Incident.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has expressed shock after his 10 beehives were set ablaze in a public garden in the central city of Almere, causing the loss of an approximated half a million bees.
Harold Stringer mentioned that each hive housed a population of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the thought that anyone could destroy them was devastating.
"It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have perished," he told local broadcaster.
Law enforcement in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have requested observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday night in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted pictures of the fire on social media.
The Netherlands authorities reports that over 50% of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of dying out, as the number of bees declines around the world.
The beekeeper explained that authorities had informed him an accelerant had been employed to ignite the hives, which were placed on wooden platforms in a forested area of the garden.
Barely any of the bees 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 bee colonies and planned to give him a colony.
For the beekeeper, who cared for the colonies for about almost a decade, the incident means starting a new colony in the area from the beginning.
But he affirms he will not give up.
Related Incidents
- 'One Million Bees' Lost in Deliberate Hive Fire.
