Queen's bees told by royal beekeeper they have a new master

It's by an ancient tradition that goes back centuries - the royal beekeeper has told the palace bees that the Queen is no more, and that they better be good to their new master.

John Chapple, 79, travelled to the hives in Buckingham Palace and Clarence House this weekend to inform the bees the sad news, he told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.

In keeping with a superstition prevalent in many European countries, he tied black ribbons in bows around the hives and spoke in a hushed voice to the tens of thousands of bees.


The belief goes that if the bees were not informed of a change in ownership, they would not produce enough honey or even leave the hives.

"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?" the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

What he told them was this: the Queen is dead, but they need no leave because the new owner, King Charles III, would be good to them.

The British royal household keeps seven hives in all, and at their peak in summer, the number of bees are reported to go over a million.