500,000 Bees Perish in Netherlands Deliberate Blaze.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has expressed shock after his ten colonies were burned down in a public garden in the city of Almere, resulting in the loss of an estimated half a million bees.
The beekeeper stated that every colony housed a population of 40-60,000 bees, and the idea that someone could destroy them was horrific.
"It really hurts that my ten colonies have died," he informed local broadcaster.
Police in Almere, located to the east of Amsterdam, have appealed for observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They shared pictures of the fire on online platforms.
The Netherlands authorities says that over 50% of the nation's 360 species of bee are at threat of extinction, as the population of bees declines around the world.
The beekeeper explained that police had informed him an flammable substance had been employed to burn the colonies, which were placed on wooden platforms in a wooded part of the garden.
Almost none of the bees survived and he noted that he had little faith the perpetrator would be caught.
Another apiarist a local beekeeper stated on 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 park from scratch.
But he affirms he will not give up.
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