One million bees killed by unidentified suspects who covered beehive entrances with soil in Turkey’s Manisa

MANİSA – Anadolu Agency

One million bees have been killed in the Aegean province of Manisa after unidentified suspects covered the entrances of beehives with soil on July 29.

The incident occurred in Manisa’s Saruhanlı district.

Zafer Şahin, the owner of the beehives, replaced 122 beehives, which had been carrying 10 thousand bees per hive, one month ago in the neighborhood of Lütfiye.

He began checking the conditions of the beehives every day as maintenance in July, until he noticed on the morning of July 29 that all of the entrances of the beehives had been covered with soil by unidentified suspects.

Şahin informed the gendarmerie about the incident. The gendarmerie forces have detected one million bees have been killed.

The gendarmerie has also started an investigation into the incident in order to identify the suspect or suspects.

Following the incident, Şahin said he did not know who would kill the bees.

“I have been beekeeping in Halitpaşa Ovası for 15 years. There have not been any complaints or anomalies, but last night when we arrived, I saw all 122 cases were covered with soil and all the bees were killed. We have informed the gendarmerie crew. They have performed the necessary examinations at the scene. I do not know how someone did this or why they did it,” he said.

Şahin also remarked that all his bees were killed and none of them had survived.

“They did not harm anyone. Moreover, they had been contributing to the ecological balance. This is unscrupulous. It cannot be done by a human. Harming an animal does not fit humanity,” he added.