🔗 Share this article

A Dutch beekeeper has expressed shock after his ten colonies were set ablaze in a public garden in the central city of Almere, causing the loss of an estimated 500,000 bees.

The beekeeper mentioned that every colony contained a colony of 40-60,000 bees, and the idea that anyone could destroy them was devastating.

"It really hurts that my ten colonies have died," he informed regional media.

Police in Almere, located to the northeast of Amsterdam, have appealed for observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday night in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted pictures of the blaze on online platforms.

The Dutch government says that more than half of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of dying out, as the number of bees decreases around the world.

Mr Stringer explained that authorities had informed him an flammable substance had been used to burn the colonies, which were placed on wooden platforms in a wooded part of the garden.

Barely any of the insects made it through and he said that he had doubt the arsonist would be apprehended.

Fellow beekeeper a local beekeeper stated on Dutch radio that she had three bee colonies and wanted to donate a colony.

For the beekeeper, who looked after the colonies for about almost a decade, the fire means starting a new colony in the area from scratch.

But he insists he will not give up.

Related Events

• A Million Bees Lost in Deliberate Hive Fire.