Photography by Kendra Wilson for Gardenista except where noted.
On the roof of London’s legendary shop Fortnum and Mason live four colonies of bees, whose "bee house" entrances face out to the gardens of Buckingham Palace and who get the royal treatment from Urban beekeeper Steve Benbow.
Bringing a touch of the pastoral to London W1, the beemaster’s equipment is jammed into a picnic basket.
Photo via Square Peg Publishing
Fortnum’s Welsh Chunk Comb Honey is £21 a jar.
Visitors are asked to keep a safe distance from the hives.
The best kind of brush is a handful of goose feathers.
Photo via Fortnum and Mason.
Each bee house has a different style of door, which fits in with Georgian iconography: Roman, Mughal, Chinese and Gothick.
Photo via Fortnum and Mason.
Honeycomb is harvested by the Thomas Hardy-esque beemaster.