More than 50,000 bees have died after an arsonist torched beehives at a Pennsylvania farm. The family-owned business reported the sad crime, saying someone deliberately destroyed their beehives.
The owner of Bedillion Honey Farm in Industry made the sad discovery while doing routine checks. They wrote in a statement on Facebook about the incident. "Tens of thousands of honey bees turned to ash, along with the boxes and pallets they were once housed in," Bedillion Honey Farm posted. "This was a significant loss of animal life, as well as the principle of our livelihood, although we intend to regroup and rebuild."
Owners of Bedillion Honey Farm, Mark and Sarah Bedillion, say that someone burned down at least 50 of their beehives. It resulted in at least 50,000 bees dying.
"We rolled up to it. I was a little confused, like, where are the beehives?" said the couple's daughter, Lily. "When you really get to looking at it, you can see squares of ash where they burned the pallet," she said. My heart dropped, my dad's heart dropped — a pretty long moment of silence until it set in that all of our hives were caught on fire. It was heartbreaking, to say the least."
50,000 Bees Dead
The family-owned bee farm sells various products made by the bees.
"It was like getting punched in the gut," Sarah Bedillion, shop manager, said. "It was heartbreaking. They killed our bees, killed them. We're estimating about 50 hives out of the bunch, so tens of thousands of bees."
Following the incident, the farm launched a GoFundMe to raise money to help recover the losses. They're also offering a $1,000 reward as well for the arrest of the arsonist.
"We have been overwhelmed by the love and support following the deliberate fire at one of our bee yard locations in Industry, PA. Our family is extremely grateful for your kindness and messages," the farm wrote in an updated statement on Friday. "Though it has been demoralizing, we are continuing with our regular spring program in caring for the rest of our hives, and we will keep you posted if we learn more."
