500,000 Honeybees Perish in Dutch Fire Incident.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has voiced shock after his 10 beehives were burned down in a public garden in the central city of Almere, causing the death of an approximated 500,000 bees.
The beekeeper stated that each hive contained a colony of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the thought that anyone could destroy them was horrific.
"It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have died," he told regional media.
Police in Almere, located to the northeast of Amsterdam, have appealed for witnesses after the deliberate fire on Tuesday night in the city's scenic Beatrixpark. They shared images of the fire on online platforms.
The Dutch government reports that more than half of the nation's 360 species of bee are at threat of extinction, as the number of bees decreases around the world.
The beekeeper said that police had informed him an flammable substance had been employed to ignite the hives, which were placed on pallets in a forested area of the garden.
Barely any of the insects made it through and he noted that he had doubt the perpetrator would be caught.
Fellow beekeeper Heleen Nieman stated on national radio that she had three bee colonies and wanted to give him one of them.
For the beekeeper, who cared for the colonies for about nine years, the incident means building a new colony in the park from the beginning.
But he insists he will continue his efforts.
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