Queen’s bees notified of monarch’s death in bizarre tradition

Royal housekeeper informed the palace bees that the Queen has passed away

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Queen Elizabeth II’s death was announced to Buckingham Palace bees on Friday in a bizarre tradition which dates back centuries.

According to Daily Mail, the royal housekeeper John Chapple revealed that he went to the palace and Clarence House to carry out the ritual.

The palace hives have also been told that now King Charles III is their new master after Britain’s longest-serving monarch breathed her last at Balmoral on Thursday.

The 79-year-old housekeeper told the outlet: “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.

Photo Credits: Daily Mail
Photo Credits: Daily Mail

“I drape the hives with black ribbon with a bow,” he said.

Chapple 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?

Photo Credits: Daily Mail
Photo Credits: Daily Mail

“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.’

“I’ve done the hives at Clarence House and I’m now in Buckingham Palace doing their hives,” he added.