A beekeeper from the Netherlands has voiced shock after his ten colonies were burned down in a park in the city of Almere, causing the death of an approximated half a million bees.
Harold Stringer stated that every colony contained a colony of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the idea that someone could destroy them was devastating.
"It really hurts that my ten colonies have perished," he told regional media.
Law enforcement in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have appealed for witnesses after the arson attack on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They shared images of the blaze on online platforms.
The Dutch government says that over 50% of the nation's 360 species of bee are at risk of dying out, as the population of bees decreases around the world.
The beekeeper said that police had informed him an accelerant had been used to ignite the colonies, which were placed on wooden platforms in a wooded part of the park.
Almost none of the bees made it through and he said that he had little faith the perpetrator would be apprehended.
Fellow beekeeper a local beekeeper told national radio that she had three hives and planned to give him one of them.
For Mr Stringer, who looked after the colonies for about almost a decade, the incident means starting a fresh hive in the park from the beginning.
But he insists he will not give up.
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