As well as letting the people of the United Kingdom know that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday (September 8), an ancient royal tradition means that someone must inform the palace bees that the Queen has died, too. This person is the royal beekeeper, who has the important job of informing the insects that they have a new master.
And, as MailOnline reports, we can confirm that the sad news of the Queen's passing has been delivered to the bees at hives in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House - in 'whispered tones'. John Chapple, 79, is the official palace beekeeper and he made the poignant journey to each location on Friday.
Black ribbons were tied in bows on the hives, which are home to thousands of bees, and the ritual continued with him telling them the Queen had died and a new master would now be in charge. What's more, the bees were then urged to 'be good' to their new master, King Charles III.
Read more: Queen Elizabeth's death: King Charles III formally confirmed as new monarch - updates
The reason behind doing all of this spans from an unusual ancient belief that, by not doing so, the bees would not produce honey for their new master or, worse still, would abandon the hive or even die. Mr Chapple told the MailOnline: "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 - I drape the hives with black ribbon with a bow.
"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."
Mr Chapple said he had carried out the ritual at hives at Clarence House and Buckingham Palace. He cares for more than a million bees overall, but numbers usually drop by late summer - Clarence House has two hives and Buckingham Palace has five.
The bees in his care are Dark European Honey bees, but some of them he says are London mongrels. Other European countries also have similar traditions to tell the insects about their keeper's lives.
There are an estimated 20,000 insects at the moment but during summer months over a million buzz round the hives. The official palace beekeeper has worked with the bees for 15 years but did not realise informing the bees was part of the job.
He received an email from the head gardener to speak to the bees at Buckingham Palace. The 79-year-old, who is retired and has been looking after bees in general for more than three decades thanks to his wife's love of honey, says his hobby is beekeeping (something that has taken him around the world) and he also tends the hives of other important people.
But he said his first duty was to the Queen who he was employed by for 15 years and said it had been a 'wonderful privilege' to work with Her Majesty and hopes he will continue working with King Charles III.
Read next:
- How Bristol paid tribute to the Queen and her 'unwavering devotion'
- Bank of England issue statement as plans to change Queen Elizabeth notes and coins to King Charles begin
- How Bristol paid tribute to the Queen and her 'unwavering devotion'
- What will happen today after death of Queen Elizabeth
- Queen Elizabeth II dies: A lifetime of service to the nation
