A Dutch beekeeper is reeling after an arson attack wiped out his entire apiary in Almere, a city east of Amsterdam. Harold Stringer found the remains of his 10 hives, home to an estimated half a million bees, reduced to ashes in Beatrixpark after someone set them alight with what police believe was an accelerant, the BBC reports. Stringer, who had tended the hives for nearly a decade, described the loss as deeply painful, saying he struggled to comprehend how anyone could destroy so many bees. He says his phone number is posted next to the hives, and he has never received a single complaint.
Authorities have launched an appeal for witnesses, sharing images of the aftermath, but Stringer doubts the perpetrator will be identified. He says there have been previous fires in the park, but they involved playground equipment far from his hives, NL Times reports. "This is the quiet part of the forest," he says. "Now it just smells of burnt wood. Asian hornets are already flying around, trying to steal honey and carry off a few bees." Each colony held 40,000 to 60,000 bees and there were few survivors.
Stringer, who estimates the damage at more than $9,000, tells Omroep Flevoland that friends have urged him to start a crowdfunding campaign. "I don't know exactly how that works," he says. "I've lost my colonies, which I've worked on for all these years, forever." Fellow beekeeper Heleen Nieman has offered to donate one of her own three colonies to help him restart.
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