Half a Million Bees Killed in Dutch Fire Incident.
A beekeeper from the Netherlands has expressed dismay after his 10 beehives were burned down in a park in the central city of Almere, causing the death of an approximated 500,000 bees.
The beekeeper mentioned that every colony housed a population of 40-60,000 bees, and the thought that anyone could kill them was devastating.
"It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have died," he told regional media.
Police in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have requested observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They shared images of the fire on online platforms.
The Dutch government says that over 50% of the nation's 360 species of bee are at risk 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 sitting on pallets in a forested area of the park.
Almost none of the bees survived and he noted that he had little faith the arsonist 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 looked after the bees for about almost a decade, the incident means building a new colony in the park from scratch.
But he insists he will continue his efforts.
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