Scottish Parliament Beekeeper, 18, looks after 1m bees

An 18-year-old beekeeper is the third generation to look after a million bees on top of Scottish Parliament.

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm Stuart Hood from Hoods Honey and this is my daughter Ailey.

00:24 Ailey is now a fourth generation beekeeper here at Hoods Honey.

00:27 We're on site at the Members Garden in the Scottish Parliament where we currently have

00:31 15 of our hives.

00:34 I think we're in our eighth year of having hives here on site.

00:37 We're very, very lucky.

00:39 It's a wonderful location.

00:40 It's very sheltered, very warm and they have the wonderful 600 acres of forage right next

00:46 door in Holyrood Park.

01:01 I've been involved in beekeeping all of my life.

01:04 My earliest recollections in fact are being stung with a bee after my father kissed me

01:08 goodnight as a probably two year old and a bee came off his collar and stung me.

01:15 One of the many occasions in his life that he told me don't worry the bees won't touch

01:18 you.

01:19 Well, that's not always the case.

01:28 Tell me what it's like.

01:40 My earliest memory is also bee related.

01:44 I used to put the lids on the jars of honey for my grandfather from when I was about four

01:47 years old and I'm very proud to be a fourth generation beekeeper now and hopefully keep

01:53 this brilliant lifestyle and company going.

02:07 We live by the motto that if you're good to the bees, they'll be good to you.

02:34 It's always wise to be cautious of bees and be sensible when you're around them and see

02:37 bee hives and don't walk right up to them because they naturally protect themselves.

02:42 People are always particularly scared when they've seen a swarm of bees but that's usually

02:46 a time where they've only got one thing on their mind and they're not really interested

02:49 in people.

02:50 But bees, if you don't bother them, they really won't bother you.

02:55 So they're very, very important.

02:56 Just stay calm and let them be.