As part of a project supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Namık Kemal University (NKÜ) in Turkey's northwestern province of Tekirdağ has been breeding bees since 2016.
Recently, unknown people damaged hives of disease-resistant bees and caused the death of about four million of them, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Prof. Necati Muz, a member of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine who leads the project, filed a criminal complaint for the perpetrators to be found.
"Approximately four million bees were destroyed. Superior bee breeds that are resistant to diseases have been stolen," he told reporters, adding that 200 hives in the apiary have become unusable.
The apiary is surrounded by wire fencing, he noted.
"Our goal in this project is to end the import of substances used in the production of chemical drugs," said the professor. (VK)