Queen Elizabeth's Bees Had To Be Informed Of Her Death: Royal Beekeeper

The royal beekeeper had to inform the hives in the palace of their new master following Queen Elizabeth's passing.

John Chapple, 79, the official Palace beekeeper spoke with Daily Mail about the need for the hives kept on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House to be informed of the Queen's death. There is an arcane tradition dating back centuries on how to let the bees know they have a new master.

Chapple traveled to Buckingham Palace and Clarence House following the Queen's death to carry out the ritual that involved placing black ribbons tied into bows on the hives, home to tens of thousands of bees, before informing them that their mistress had passed away and a new master would be in charge moving forward.

"I'm at the hives now, and 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," he told Daily Mail. "I drape the hives with black ribbon with a bow."

He continued, "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.'"

He added that he had already done the tradition to the hives at Clarence House and was doing it to the hives at Buckingham Palace during the interview. Chapple, who takes care of over a million bees, said there are two hives in Clarence House and five in Buckingham Palace.

According to the beekeeper, at this time of the year, each hive contains 20,000 bees or more. He believes that there are over a million in the summer. Chapple has been the royal beekeeper for 15 years.

Telling the bees is a tradition in many European countries, so they would be informed about the important events in their keepers' lives, such as birth, marriage, departure, and return to the household.

It is believed that if the custom is omitted or forgotten, a penalty would have to be paid, including bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey, or worse, dying.

The custom is best known in England. It has been recorded in Ireland, Wales, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Bohemia and the United States, too.

Queen Elizabeth will have a state funeral on Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in Central, London. King Charles declared that the Queen's funeral would be a bank holiday.