Half a Million Bees Perish in Netherlands Deliberate Blaze.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has voiced dismay after his 10 beehives were burned down in a park in the central city of Almere, resulting in the loss of an estimated 500,000 bees.
Harold Stringer mentioned that every colony housed a colony of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the thought that someone could kill them was horrific.
"It is deeply painful that my ten colonies have perished," he told local broadcaster.
Police in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have appealed for observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday night in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted images of the blaze on social media.
The Dutch government reports that over 50% of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of dying out, as the number of bees declines globally.
Mr Stringer explained that police had informed him an accelerant had been employed to ignite the colonies, which were placed on wooden platforms in a forested area of the park.
Almost none of the bees made it through and he said that he had little faith the perpetrator would be apprehended.
Another apiarist a local beekeeper told 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 almost a decade, the incident means starting a new colony in the park from scratch.
But he affirms he will not give up.
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