The Princess brought a jar of the honey from the hives for schoolchildren to try on a visit to the Natural History Museum’s new biodiversity hub in June 2021.
The Princess was photographed wearing a beekeeper’s suit made by the Cornish family firm BJ Sherriff, which has a distinctive sheriff’s badge as its logo.
The firm’s founders, Brian and Pat Sherriff, had previously designed military uniforms but turned to making beekeeping equipment after setting up South Cornwall Honey Farm in the mid-1960s. The farm now has 400 hives.
World Bee Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of bees, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development.
Apiary enthusiasm runs in the family
The Princess of Wales is not the only royal happy to don a beekeeper’s jacket and protective hood to gather the sweet harvest.
The new Queen is also a keen apiarist, and keeps bees at Raymill, her six-bedroom retreat in Lacock, Wiltshire, 17 miles from the King’s Highgrove home.
During a visit to Launceston, Cornwall, last summer, Queen Camilla met honey producers selling jars in the town square, and told them she was a hands-on beekeeper and had only lost one colony during the previous winter.
Honey produced by the Queen’s bees is sold at Fortnum & Mason to raise funds for charity. This year’s recipient is Nigeria’s first sexual assault referral centre, which the Queen supports as patron.
She is also president of Bees for Development, a charity training beekeepers and protecting bee habitats in more than 50 countries.
Buckingham Palace itself is home to four beehives on an island in a lake in the garden, and there are two hives in Clarence House’s garden.
The hives produced more than 300 jars of honey last year for the palace kitchens, which is frequently served to guests in honey madeleines, as a filling for chocolate truffles, or in honey and cream sponge.
