A BEEKEEPER has spoken of her devastation after her hive of 50,000 bees was destroyed by suspected arsonists.

The bees belonging to Wendy Coombe, of Kingskerswell, died after the hive —in the grounds of the Manor House ruins, behind St Mary's Parish Church — caught fire in suspicious circumstances.

Mrs Coombe said: "It's devastating."

The attack has prompted widespread condemnation and comes at a time when honeybees are in decline.

Police are investigating after six youths were seen in the area at the time of the blaze. A fire crew from Torquay attended after receiving a 999 call just after 9pm on Tuesday.

Crew commander Scott Atkins said a friend of Mrs Coombe had managed to douse the flames with water.

He said: "The fire was out on our arrival. But the matter is being treated as a malicious incident.

"The beekeeper was understandably quite distressed by what happened. And there were quite a lot of angry bees about.

"Bees are in decline, so this incident is all the more shameful. You just wonder who could do this sort of thing. It's incomprehensible."

Mrs Coombe, a beekeeper for three years, was spending yesterday trying to piece together what happened.

She was alerted by a friend and rushed to her hive in a full beesuit only to find it was too late.

This year she was looking forward to her first bumper honey-producing season after a tough winter.

"The hive is nothing but a pile of ash," said Mrs Coombe. "It has completely devastated the swarm. Basically they were burnt alive. It's absolutely devastating. You become emotionally attached to them because they are living creatures.

"It was obviously a deliberate attempt to set it on fire because there were bits of wood and other things around that are not normally there."

She hopes some bees who managed to flee the fire will be taken into a nearby hive.

Yesterday neighbour Gabriel Broders said: "It is terrible. It sickens me. Who would want to do that?

"Mrs Coombe will be devastated. She told me that the bees struggled last winter but managed through because she was feeding them on a regular basis.

"Now there are some allotments she was looking forward to this year because the bees will be more active around here."

Douglas Westaway is the secretary for the Torbay branch of the Devon Beekeepers' Association.

He said: "It's a disgraceful thing to do — it's wanton vandalism.

"I have been in beekeeping for 50 years and I have never heard anything like it. Hives are thriving at this time of year — we are building up to the honey season — so this will be absolutely devastating."

Mrs Coombe intended to sell pots of honey to raise money for the Manor House trust fund, to help restore the classified Scheduled Monument.

Committee member John Hartley said: "Setting fire to a hive situated in the grounds of an ancient building is disgraceful behaviour."

A police spokesman said: "Six male youths were seen in the area at the time. We would appeal for anyone who saw anything to contact us."

Call police quoting log number 1027 of June 1 on 08452 777 444.