🔗 Share this article Half a Million Honeybees Perish in Dutch Arson Attack. A beekeeper's ten beehives were destroyed in a park in the city of Almere. A beekeeper from the Netherlands has expressed dismay after his ten colonies were set ablaze in a park in the city of Almere, causing the loss of an estimated half a million bees. Harold Stringer stated that every colony housed a population of forty to sixty thousand bees, and the idea that someone could destroy them was devastating. "It is deeply painful that my 10 hives have perished," he informed local broadcaster. Police in Almere, located to the east of Amsterdam, have requested observers after the deliberate fire on Tuesday night in the city's picturesque Beatrixpark. They posted pictures of the fire on social media. The Dutch government reports that over 50% of the country's 360 types of bee are at threat of extinction, as the number of bees declines around the world. Mr Stringer said that police had informed him an flammable substance had been employed to burn the hives, which were placed on wooden platforms in a wooded part of the garden. Almost none of the bees made it through and he noted that he had little faith the arsonist would be apprehended. Another apiarist a local beekeeper told national radio that she had three bee colonies and planned to donate one of them. For the beekeeper, who looked after the colonies for about almost a decade, the fire means starting a new colony in the park from the beginning. But he affirms he will not give up. Similar Incidents A Million Bees Killed in Deliberate Hive Fire. Honeybees Netherlands