His Royal Hiveness! Charles is selling his own honey

Prince Charles. (PHOTO: GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES)

Now here’s a story to get you buzzing.

Bottles of honey from Prince Charles’
beehives on his estate in the English countryside have gone on sale, with all
proceeds earmarked for the charities the king-in-waiting supports.

But buyers are going to have to dig deep for
this sticky stuff: a 350 g jar of Highgrove Royal Estate organic honey will set
you back a whopping £25 – that’s about R550.

Still, the creatures that make the
“beautifully delicate” honey, as it’s been described, are no ordinary common or
garden variety. These bees live in specially commissioned hand-built hives on
Charles’ Gloucestershire property.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail the three
hives, which resemble mini country homes, were a 70th birthday gift to His
Royal Highness from upmarket London food store Fortnum & Mason – the royal
family’s favourite shop.

Read more: Just
call it Boozingham Palace!

One features a distinctive blue dome with the
Prince of Wales’ feathers – the heraldic badge of the prince – and four giant
bees on top, while another has large decorative stone ovals and intricate
carvings.

Being the environmentalist he is, the
71-year-old prince has been particularly worried about the global decline in
bee numbers – nearly one in 10 wild species in Europe are facing extinction –
and this resulted in him filling his gardens with bee-attracting plants.

His wife, Camilla, is also the president of
Bees for Development, which encourages beekeeping in developing countries as a
way for local communities to support themselves.

Sweet pair, aren’t they.

Sources: dailymail.co.uk, independent.co.uk,
mindfood.com