The Secret Life of Bees | show | 2025 | Official Clip - video Dailymotion

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Steve Backshall takes a fascinating look at the 270 bee species of the UK - from the industrious honeybee to the bold bu | dHNfQ1VweTRGc3lTVjA

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00:00This is Highgrove, the private home of His Majesty King Charles III.

00:05He helped design the gardens, which are open to the public,

00:08and they are a paradise for insects and wildlife, especially bees.

00:19But the King's bees don't live in any old hive.

00:23Oh, look at that. That is truly a palace among beehives.

00:27Oh, hello. Welcome to Highgrove.

00:29This is Steve Benbow, the King's beekeeper.

00:33This is one of three very fancy hives here at Highgrove

00:36that were gifted to the King by Fortnum and Mason for his 70th birthday.

00:45It's kind of a bit posher than my own house.

00:54King Charles is famously obsessed with nature.

00:56Is he ever involved at all? Does he ever come down and have a look?

00:59He has a very active interest in everything to do with wildlife and nature and bees, of course.

01:04You know, they're a huge part of the estate here,

01:07and he's had a huge involvement in the whole way that this estate has been planted.

01:11Yeah, I mean, everywhere you look, there are native plants, nectar-rich plants.

01:21I mean, it looks like paradise for bees.

01:23It's an absolute paradise for bees. There's so much here.

01:26So the honey produced here is absolutely fantastic.

01:29Steve, do we have any sense of whether His Majesty actually likes honey?

01:34He loves the lime honey we produce here, which is really thick and aromatic.

01:39I believe he's very fond of that. All proceeds go to the King's Foundation.

01:43This beautiful hive is currently empty, but there are some new tenants waiting to move in.

01:53I always just have a look at the front to see what's going on.

01:56What are you checking for?

01:57I'm checking to see if there's pollen coming in.

01:59Yeah.

02:00Pollen is a bee's main source of protein and is fed to newly hatched larvae.

02:05Worker bees gather it from flowers and carry it in pollen baskets on their legs.

02:09When they get back to the hive, they transfer it to wax cells, where it's stored for later use.

02:16You can tell a lot from the front of a hive before you even go in it, really, that it's harmonious.

02:20So are we seeing harmony right now?

02:22Yeah, it's been pretty calm.

02:24Man-made hives replicate a tree hollow or cave wall in the wild,

02:27using wooden frames which the bees can attach their honeycomb to.

02:31So there you go, there's your first one.

02:33OK. So nice and gently, yeah.

02:35Oh my gosh, I'm feeling the weight of expectation.

02:39So that's the most important frame because that's got the queen on it, yeah?

02:42The queen inside the royal hive, which just kind of perfect place for her, really.

02:48There's usually only one queen in every hive.

02:51They're bigger and the only one capable of mass-laying eggs, up to 2,000 every day.

02:56Most honeybee queens live for three to four years, making them the longest living bees in the world.

03:02The art of beekeeping is an ancient one, and it has much ritual that comes alongside it.

03:19And there is one particularly that I've heard about, which happened just before the new king was pronounced, right?

03:25Yeah, it's quite an old-fashioned tradition, and my grandmother told me about it.

03:29On a really sad occasion, someone passing, you're supposed to wrap your hive in black crepe paper,

03:35and also tell that person has passed to your bees as well.

03:39So after the passing of the late queen, did you come here and tell the bees?

03:44Yeah, I think I told every hive that I was in that day.

03:47So yeah, it was quite poignant to say that really, and I suppose to practice something that my grandmother had taught me.

03:53So yeah, and I was dead in that day again, using these words before the past.

03:55So go back to loving each other.

03:56You assume he spent time with her, and you can relax.

03:58So I shown up the interest in my ummg form.

03:59But that we are content, and you can rapidly wander into the building.

04:00If you just who is a bulla newcomer, it has reached their same place.

04:03You are the newly in the 30th ninj.

04:05There is no main focus.

04:07Hi, I'm the starfish with everyone and you are the youngest in the future.

04:10So I brought up my 하나 and my mother.

04:11I've been 1532 makes a whole nest as well.

The Secret Life of Bees | show | 2025 | Official Clip

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