Why we should be talking to bees, by Charles’s beekeeper
PRINCE Charles famously admitted he talks to his plants to help them grow.
But it seems the heir to the throne is not the only one at Highgrove who believes in the benefits of chatting to nature.
The Prince’s beekeeper, Steve Benbow, said we ought to be talking to bees to help them produce plenty of honey.
Speaking at Hay Festival, he said: ‘I think it’s really important that you talk to your bees and you chat to them and tell them your worries. It’s a really calming experience, especially on a rooftop in London.’
Mr Benbow, who works on at Charles’s Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire, claims the insects even have their own character and can recognise their owners.
He said: ‘Different bees have different personalities. Welsh bees are particularly lively – not aggressive but feisty.
‘I think bees do recognise you, if you’ve got bad body odour or deodorant on they’re going to recognise you. If you knock them or you’re clumsy they will always be grumpy. They will remember and punish you next time.’ Beekeeping has risen in popularity in recent years amid concerns about Britain’s shrinking bee population, and fans include TV hosts Kate Humble and Bill Turnbull.
Alys Fowler, who has written a book on bees with Mr Benbow, also encouraged Britons to stop mowing their lawns and let verges grow wild. She said: ‘If people care about bees they need to become really messy gardeners.
‘Don’t plant anything. Become a really messy gardener.’ A ‘lazy lawnmower approach’ helps allow the growth of wild flowers such as dandelions and clover, which bees use for pollination. Miss Fowler also encouraged gardeners to tackle the scourge of Japanese knotweed by ‘eating it in to submission’.
She said of the invasive weed, which has been known to have a negative effect on house prices: ‘Japanese knotweed is also edible. In Japan it is a delicacy. It’s very delicious.
‘You have to make sure you’re eating it from a source that doesn’t have any herbicide on it but then eat it into submission.’