Palace bees informed Queen has died, King Charles III is their new master

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

According to Daily Mail, the 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.

“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?

“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.