An elderly German is in court for stabbing his beekeeping neighbour when their longstanding rift regarding apiculture and issues related to it got out of control.
The defendant – identified by officials in Wanzleben, Saxony-Anhalt only as Helmut R. due to privacy protection laws – is accused of attacking hobbyist apiarist Manfred Krebs with a knife in July 2021.
The state prosecutor explained: “The men have been arguing for years. The knife assault caused serious kidney injuries. The victim’s life was at risk.”
Manfred, 72, told judges: “On that day, he was once again washing his car in the street – despite a ban by the local authority. I took a photo of it with my mobile.”
The 81-year-old defendant then reportedly rammed the knife into his opponent’s stomach.
Manfred has fully recovered from the assault. In court, the beekeeping enthusiast explained that his colonies would die if they drank from his neighbour’s washing-up water.
The trial continues.
There are more than 149,000 beekeepers in Germany, according to the Centre for Bees and Beekeeping in Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate. For more than 95 per cent of them, apiculture is just a leisure-time activity.
In 2022, Germany’s beekeepers were in charge of 990,000 colonies.
