AND FINALLY: A sting in the tale

Melissophobic guests at Edinburgh’s iconic Rocco Forte hotel, the Balmoral, might want to rethink their next reservation. The property is now home to more than 50,000 honey bees.

The colony checked-in to their hive on the roof in spring and started work ahead of the busy summer season to produce home-grown honey to be served to guests.

The Balmoral is the first 5-star hotel in the city to welcome bees as permanent guests. It has been working with beekeeper Brian Pool at Scottish Honey to ensure the insects have settled in properly.

Apparently they have. They’ve produced more than 20kg of honey so far and seem happy to carry on working just as hard.

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Howard Mitchell,

Good to see the Balmoral is a hive of activity. No doubt the leader of the bees, will be given a Classic Suite with a Queen-sized bed. Where Room Service can be reached, using a tiny buzzer. Meanwhile a large orange bear has been spotted entering the premises amidst much press speculation that Mr Pooh-bear is also in residence.