The British Royal Family’s 10 lakh honeybees have been informed about Queen Elizabeth’s death and about Charles being the new King and being as good as the Queen, so that they treat the new King well and do not stop producing honey.
There is a prevalent belief in Britain that if the honeybees are not informed about the coronation of a new king or a queen, they get angry and upset and stop making honey, leave their hive or die. And therefore, as per an old tradition, the honeybees of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House are informed about the same by the Royal bee-keeper.
This tradition has been followed in England for years. As told by the Royal bee-keeper, the 79-year-old John Chapple and his wife, they enjoy beekeeping and that is why, they started working at the royal palaces. As per John, the hives of the honeybees in the royal palaces, who are kept in a box, are tapped lightly. He then informed how he had received an e-mail from the head gardener of the Buckingham Palace, inviting him to the palace to talk about honeybees.
Chapple had reckoned that there must have been some trouble in the palace, related to honeybees, but on reaching, he got to know that he was to be given the responsibility of beekeeping at the Buckingham Palace.
John has been looking after the Royal Family’s honeybees for more than 30 years now. In order to inform the honeybees, their boxes are covered with block cloths and then, the message is passed on to them in hushed tones.
