Black bows have been tied onto each of the hives in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, with the role of breaking the sad news to the bees falling to 79-year-old royal beekeeper John Chapelle. He also told them that King Charles III is their new boss. Informing the bees of their owner’s death isn’t a royal tradition as such—it’s a centuries-old superstition mainly predominant in western Europe and the U.S. It’s believed that failure to inform the bees that their owner has died will result in the bees’ own death, or them ceasing to produce honey. The beekeeper told the Daily Mail that it’s tradition when the “master or mistress of the hives” has died that “you go to the hives and say a little prayer and put a black ribbon" on them. He went on, “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.’” Each hive contains over 20,000 bees. At the height of summer, Mr. Chapelle is in charge of over a million of them. He revealed that he got the role of royal beekeeper accidentally 15 years ago—when he was summoned for an interview, he thought there was a “problem with bees”, but when it turned out they wanted someone to look after the hives he took on the responsibility. In 2020, the royal family tweeted that Buckingham Palace’s bees had produced over 200 jars of honey, enough for the palace to be “self-sufficient.” The honey gets used by royal chefs at palace receptions and garden parties, often in honey madeleines and in honey and cream sponge cake. Next up, Where Did Queen Elizabeth II Get Her Money, And What Was Her Net Worth?
