Buckle up, because we’re going places in this story. Rolls-Royce announced that it has appointed eight-year-old Poppy Liddle of Selsey, U.K. as its first-ever Junior Beekeeper.
That all sounds very twee and sweet, but it turns out that Liddle isn’t some executive’s daughter. She was chosen because Rolls-Royce was moved by the sad story of her personal beehive being stolen in April this year.
According to the Chichester Observer, who spoke to Liddle’s stepmother, she became interested in bees after learning about them at school. Her interest led to a visit to Hayling Island, which has a working apiary and from there she insisted on getting a beehive of her own.
“She was determined she wanted to keep bees herself,” Claire Byrne, Liddle’s stepmom told the newspaper. “She spent her birthday money on seeds and compost and when she shared it on Facebook that she was all excited bee-keepers got in touch and gave her a nucleus of bees.”
Read Also: Bentley Builds Bat Boxes to Bolster its Base’s Biodiversity
Keeping bees over the winter isn’t easy. You have to look after them, make sure they don’t get too cold, and feed them. But, of course, Liddle was watchful and was thrilled to find a hive full of baby bees this spring.
Over the weekend of April 8-10, though, the hive was stolen.
“She was so so brave and just wanted to know that the people to stole the hive would take care of the bees,” said Byrne.
As Byrne points out, though, stealing a beehive is dangerous. Bees sting and the boxes heavy. More surprisingly, it’s not like the hive was just in her backyard. The thieves had to break through two fences, one of them electric, and avoid security cameras.
Who would go through that much trouble to steal a beehive? It turns out the answer could be the mob. Although the thieves, in this case, have not been apprehended, The Guardian reports that hive heists linked to organized crime are becoming a real problem.
The story mainly focuses on U.S. thefts but reports that bees’ role as pollinators is making hives a target for criminals. The problem is so bad that in California, some officers specialize in busting bee burglars.
The main driver of demand is the almond industry, which has grown quickly and requires about two hives an acre to pollinate all the plants. That’s leading beekeepers from across the US to congregate in California during the pollinating season. Although California is a hot spot, embuzzlement isn’t unheard of in the UK.
For Liddle, the only concern is that the bees are being taken care of. Fortunately, she does still have the opportunity to indulge in her hobby thanks to Rolls-Royce. On May 14, she was picked up from school in a Ghost and taken to the automaker’s apiary at Goodwood. There, she met Jason Hampton, the company’s beekeeper, and was given a certificate denoting her position.
“We were moved to invite Poppy to visit the Goodwood Apiary after reading in the local paper about the theft of her beehive,” said Richard Carter, Chief Beekeeper at Rolls-Royce. “She is the first person ever to be made Junior Beekeeper at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: we’ve all been incredibly impressed by her knowledge and love of bees, and we feel very lucky to have her on our team.”
In her role as Junior Beekeeper, Liddle will be invited back to help the company harvest its “Rolls-Royce of Honey” later this season.
