Thousands of bees have died as a fire destroyed their hives at the edge of a forest in western Austria.
More than 100 firefighters were needed to bring the blaze under control in the Tyrolean town of Niederndorf, according to local media.
While a wooden hut burned to the ground, four hives situated just nearby were destroyed too. The cause of the blaze is currently being investigated.
A spokesman for the Kufstein district police said: “The local fire brigades quickly managed to subdue the fire. They also avoided it from spreading to the nearby forests.”
No humans were harmed by the blaze, the Tyrolean authorities confirmed.
One honeybee colony consists of 20,000 to 50,000 bees.
There are more than 3,300 apiaries in Tyrol, according to the Federal Agriculture Ministry.
The mountainous region has around 755,000 inhabitants.
Beekeeping is most popular in the provinces of Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Styria.
