The royal beekeeper has informed the bees that live at Buckingham Palace that HM Queen Elizabeth II has passed away.
Although that may sound fictitious, it’s actually a ritual based on a historic tradition.
Telling the bees, as it’s often known, is a tradition in many European countries where hives of bees are told of important events in their keeper’s lives – such as births, marriages, departures and returns in the household, and of course, deaths.
If the custom is not practiced or forgotten, and the bees were not “put into mourning”, then back in the mid-19th century when the tradition is believed to have originated, it was believed that a penalty would be paid.
This could mean the bees leave their hive, which would stop the production of honey or dying.
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So, following HM Queen Elizabeth II’s death at aged 96, and with several royal households home to tens of thousands off bees, John Chapple – who is the official royal beekeeper, and has been so for the past 15 years – told the Daily Mail that he travelled to the Buckingham Palace and Clarence House on Friday (9 September) to carry out the formality.
Giving a little more insight into the decades-old tradition, Chapple explained: “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.
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“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’.”
Chapple explained that he visited the hives at Clarence House first to inform them, before heading to tell the bees living at Buckingham Palace.
Chapple said it had been a “wonderful privilege” to care for the bees under the Queen’s reign, and he hopes to continue in his role as King Charles III ascends to the throne.
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“I hope they still want to keep the bees on their premises,” Chapple concluded.
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VfxpXro22W
HM Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 on 8 September 2022.
During her reign, Elizabeth II served as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth – undertaking an important symbolic and unifying role as a head of state, spanning numerous geographical regions, cultures, and religions.
She was not just the longest-reigning British monarch in history, but she was also the first-ever monarch to reign in the UK for 70 years.
She was beloved by many for her sense of duty and devotion to her role.
Social media unite in search for ‘crazed’ fan who stole drum from AO Arena gig last night
Thomas Melia
This past weekend, people online began pulling together to try and find a fan after they stole a drum from a major music artist’s concert at the AO Arena on Sunday night.
When you say the words, “I’ll never forget that gig”, it usually means you had a really great night and, for this fan in particular, we think it’s fair to say that they be forgetting this night anytime soon – you know, many because they took a piece of the set home with them.
That’s right, following Twenty One Pilots’ massive Manc gig at AO Arena as part of their ongoing world tour, some fans were practically frothing at the mouth as the alternative duo did what they do best.
In fact, one individual clearly loved the concert so much that they just had to claim a keepsake, to such an extent that they want as far as steal band member Josh Dun’s drum directly from the stage.
As far as merch and memorabilia go, that might just be the biggest souvenir we’ve ever seen someone swipe from a rock show.
In terms of the night itself, the highly anticipated return to Manchester was a huge success, with the band playing out to flurries of red, orange, yellow and black, thanks to fans sporting the same colours as Twenty One Pilots‘ latest album cover, Clancy.
In the video, the drum – which features the band’s logo on a red-splattered drumhead in the Clancy aesthetic – can be seen being carried out of the venue by a fan from the general standing floor area.
As a result, not only did people on social media quickly begin sleuthing and trying to find the drum thief, but they’re also questioning why fans near the culprit weren’t doing more to get it back to the band.
One user wrote, “Ok but like I would have stopped her?” while another commented, “So I was scared to even take too much confetti with me and she casually STOLE THE DRUM??”
The fan who originally uploaded the video online aid in a subsequent post, “Guys, please, don’t put us to blame for not stopping her, we did all we could but literally no one around us cared about it.” They went on to add: “You’re not putting the blame of her stealing the drum on us, I’m sorry but I’m not having it.”
As you can see, the instrument was eventually located, with Twenty One Pilots’ videographer Sax uploaded a picture to his Instagram profile along with the caption, “We have the drum”, thanking fans for all their efforts in helping track down its whereabouts.
Featured Image –Ashley Osborn (publicity picture /@tillitaint (via X)
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Life-sized animal puppets to be paraded through Greater Manchester this summer
Emily Sergeant
Dozens of life-sized puppet animals are to embark on a journey through Greater Manchester this summer.
From the team behind The Walk with Little Amal – the Syrian refugee child puppet who made the journey across the world, and our borough, back in 2021 – comes a new life-sized spectacle called THE HERDS, which will visit Manchester as part of the opening of this summer’s Manchester International Festival (MIF).
The hugely-ambitious new public artwork is set to transform Greater Manchester into a ‘breathtaking untamed spectacle’ as a way of vividly dramatising the climate crisis.
Life-sized animal puppets travel will be travelling through the city centre, Heywood in Rochdale, and Pennington Flash in Wigan this July as part of their 20,000km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle.
This is a public artwork on a scale never attempted before.
The animals are visiting Manchester as part of an epic journey – which began on 9 April from Kinshasa in the Congo – and as they cross different continents, the herd will grow in numbers and species including elephants, giraffes, antelope, lions, and others local to the area they are travelling through.
To help further highlight the scale of the climate crisis and the collective effort needed to fight it, the puppets are set to operated by local participants in each city – including in Manchester.
Because of this, Factory International and The Walk Productions are looking for amateur makers and DIY enthusiasts to join the puppet build, as well as 100 local people to help operate the puppets in Manchester, Heywood, and Wigan.
Life-sized animal puppets are being paraded through Greater Manchester this summer / Credit: Ant Strack
For the opening event of MIF25 on Thursday 3 July, THE HERDS first arrives in Manchester city centre and will scatter through the city’s main streets, so if you happen to find yourself between Cathedral Gardens and Market Street on the day, then you might just stumble upon them.
After opening MIF25, the animals are then abandoning the bustling city for the residential streets of Heywood in Rochdale on Friday (4 July).
For the final stop on their Greater Manchester journey, THE HERDS find a fleeting refuge in the wild beauty of Pennington Flash Country Park in Wigan on Saturday 5 July, and visitors are invited to explore the park’s winding trails and quietly observe as 70 life-sized puppets appear amid the trees and wetlands.
Amir Nizar Zuabi, who is the Artistic Director of THE HERDS, calls it a ‘a living breathing call to action that stampedes across continents’.
“THE HERDS is an urgent artistic response to the climate crisis,” he added. “Through the beauty and ferocity of these life-size creatures, we aim to spark dialogue, provoke thought, encourage engagement and inspire real change.”
You can see THE HERDS in Greater Manchester from Thursday 4 – Saturday 5 July.
Featured Image – Berclaire (for The Walk Productions)
Emily Sergeant -
13th September 2022 
