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