Half a Million Honeybees Perish in Netherlands Arson Attack.

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

The beekeeper stated that every colony housed a population of 40-60,000 bees, and the idea that anyone could kill them was horrific.

"It really hurts that my 10 hives have perished," he informed regional media.

Police in Almere, which sits to the northeast of Amsterdam, have requested witnesses after the arson attack on Tuesday evening in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They shared pictures of the fire on social media.

The Dutch government reports that more than half of the country's 360 types of bee are at threat of dying out, as the number of bees declines around the world.

The beekeeper said that authorities had told him an accelerant had been employed to ignite the hives, which were sitting on wooden platforms in a forested area of the park.

Barely any of the bees survived and he noted that he had little faith the perpetrator would be apprehended.

Fellow beekeeper a local beekeeper told Dutch radio that she had three hives and planned to give him one of them.

For Mr Stringer, who cared for the bees for about nine years, the fire means building a new colony in the area from scratch.

But he affirms he will not give up.

Related Incidents

• 'One Million Bees' Killed in Deliberate Hive Fire.