Kate Middleton Helped Buy 1,000 Bees for Her Brother Because…Rich People
Kate Middleton once chipped in for a completely normal group present to her brother, James Middleton. Together with her parents and sister Pippa, the now Duchess of Cambridge delivered over 1,000 bees to her youngest sibling because…that is something you do for family.
Okay, okay, James really loves bees. He loves bees so much, he wrote an entire article about it for the Daily Mail. “I’ve written a little love letter to the amazing little honey bee ❤️🍯 🐝 ,” James shared on Instagram at the end of June. “I’ve been a passionate advocate of these ingenious, industrious little creatures since I became a beekeeper myself nearly a decade ago, having fallen for them as a child.”
James claims he has over “half a million bees in eight hives” at the family home in Bucklebury Manor. (Side note: Bucklebury Manor is the most British name for a mansion I have literally ever heard, and Kate currently resides with Prince William in a home called Anmer Hall.)
“I’ve whiled away many happy hours with them during lockdown,” he continued in his Instagram post. “I’m in awe of these incredible insects. They perform a little waggle dance, an insect version of sat-nav, to signal to each other where the best flowers are.”
You know how they say “You have to start somewhere” or “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice?” Obviously, JMidy, as all his Instagram followers call him, didn’t just wake up one day with 500,000 buzzy friends. According to his love letter, he got his first set of bees from Kate Middleton and Co.
“I’d always harboured a longing to keep bees, but it wasn’t until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality,” he explained. “Then, my family—mum, dad, and my sisters Catherine and Pippa—clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable.
“A delivery van arrived with a large buzzing box with the cautionary label: ‘Live Bees.’ Inside was the nucleus—the start—of my colony: 1,000 Buckfast bees,” he continued, adding that he had to collect them from the van because the driver was afraid to pick it up. I’m with the driver.
But hey, no judgments here. Beekeeping is totally a hobby many (rich) people enjoy! In fact, it’s probably one of the better hobbies popular among those with disposable income, as the insects are absolutely vital to the health of our planet and are currently in danger of extinction. Hey, Leonardo DiCaprio and David Beckham!
“The humble honey bee desperately needs nurturing. Woodland, hedgerows, meadows and wild-flower verges—their sources of food—are disappearing at an alarming rate,” James continued in his essay. “So bees need your help. There are more than 800 wild bee species in Europe, seven of which are critically endangered, a further 46 are endangered, 24 are vulnerable, and 101 are near to being threatened.”
So if you can afford the cost of bees and equipment and are interested in starting your own hives, don’t listen to me, a person that almost fell off an actual cliff because she saw one lone stingy bug. As James once said, “Bee your self!”
Originally Appeared on Glamour
