Queen Elizabeth

Royal beekeeper John Chapple had the task of ‘telling the bees’ belonging to Queen Elizabeth about her death.
Image via Twitter
@EsheHoney

Queen Bee: Royal beekeeper breaks bad news of ‘master’ to hive

A royal beekeeper broke the bad news to a colony of bees that their ‘master’; Queen Elizabeth II had died.

Queen Elizabeth

Royal beekeeper John Chapple had the task of ‘telling the bees’ belonging to Queen Elizabeth about her death.
Image via Twitter
@EsheHoney

A royal beekeeper had the task of informing a colony owned by Queen Elizabeth II of the sad news that the monarch had died.

John Chapple, the palace beekeeper, this week undertook an age-old tradition called  “telling the bees”.

The 79-year-old was employed by the late monarch for the last 15 years.

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ROYAL BEEKEEPER BREAKS THE BAD NEWS OF THE QUEEN

According to Daily Mail, the beekeeper travelled to Buckingham Palace and Clarence House – properties frequented by the late Queen – to inform the colony of bees about their “master’s death”.

On Friday 16 September, Chapple undertook the task of “telling the bees” – an age-old superstitious ritual.

According to the publication, the beekeeper tied a black ribbon around the beehive and delivered the message of gloom. 

He said: “The person who has died is the master or mistress of the hives, someone important in the family who dies and you don’t get any more important than the Queen, do you?

“You knock on each hive and say, ‘The mistress is dead, but don’t you go. Your master will be a good master to you’.

“I’ve done the hives at Clarence House and I’m now in Buckingham Palace doing their hives”.

Chapple then informed the bees that King Charles was now their new “master”.

According to Daily Mail, the ritual is undertaken on the belief that “not telling them of a change of ownership would lead to the bees not producing honey, leaving the hive or even dying”.

Buckingham Palace is home to five beehives, whilst Clarence House has two. Each beehive contains more than 20 000 bees each.

ALSO READ: ’30-hour queues’ for visitors paying final respects at Queen Elizabeth’s coffin

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