How’s this for a wholesome story? The death of Queen Elizabeth II (stay with us) has led to the creation of a sweet book about bees. There are numerous beehives on the royal estates. When the Queen passed, the head beekeeper was tasked with a rather unusual job, which has inspired a new novel.
Queen Elizabeth’s beekeeper had to tell the bees about her death
The world media was gripped by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. But there was one community who had to be told directly – her bees. Royal beekeeper John Chapple had to give the news to the hives at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.
He explained to the Daily Mail: “It is traditional when someone dies that you go to the hives and say a little prayer and put a black ribbon on the hive.”
The beekeeper added: “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.”
This isn’t just a weird and wonderful royal tradition – it’s something practised by beekeepers in many countries around the world. The idea is to let the bees know that they will still be cared for so they will stick around and keep making honey.
Author Elizabeth Bass Parman heard about the custom after the Queen’s passing. Now she’s written a novel on the subject.
She explained via People: “Talking to bees is a well-established custom, I learned. But what if the bees talked back? An idea for the book that became my new novel Bees in June formed in my head about a young woman named Rennie who has suffered the tragic loss of her infant son and is enduring an increasingly abusive marriage. She receives help from an unlikely source, the bees once owned by her late Aunt Eugenia.”
The Queen wasn’t the only royal beekeeper. King Charles and Kate Middleton also share a love of the fuzzy-butted creatures. And football royalty David Beckham also has a number of hives in his garden.
TELL US – DID YOU KNOW THE QUEEN KEPT BEES?
