500,000 Honeybees Killed in Dutch Arson Attack.
A Dutch beekeeper has voiced dismay after his ten colonies were burned down in a public garden in the central city of Almere, causing the death of an estimated 500,000 bees.
Harold Stringer stated that every colony contained a population of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the thought that someone could kill them was horrific.
"It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have died," he informed local broadcaster.
Police in Almere, which sits to the northeast of Amsterdam, have requested witnesses after the deliberate fire on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted images of the blaze on social media.
The Netherlands authorities reports that more than half of the nation's 360 species of bee are at threat of dying out, as the number of bees decreases around the world.
The beekeeper explained that authorities had informed him an flammable substance had been used to burn the colonies, which were placed on wooden platforms in a forested area of the park.
Almost none of the insects survived and he said that he had doubt the perpetrator would be apprehended.
Fellow beekeeper Heleen Nieman told Dutch radio that she had three bee colonies and planned to give him a colony.
For Mr Stringer, who cared for the bees for about nine years, the incident means starting a fresh hive in the park from scratch.
But he affirms he will not give up.
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