Rare black honeybee colony gets a new roof over its head in Wales

When the 17th-century manor house in the far north-west of Wales was bequeathed to the National Trust, it came with a clear condition: the bees in the roof, which sometimes produce so much honey that it oozes through cracks in the walls, should be left alone.

- Steven Morris

However, the ravages of the wind and rain mean the slate roof of the house, Plas yn Rhiw, on the Llŷn peninsula needs to be replaced and so about 50,000 rare Welsh black honeybees have been given a temporary home while the work is being done.

Mary Thomas, the property operations manager at Plas yn Rhiw, said: "They were moved around 10 miles away - if they had been closer they may have come straight back.

"In the late spring they will be returned to the house's orchard in the hives they are living in now and the idea is they will find their way back to the roof." Plas yn Rhiw was rescued from neglect and lovingly restored by the sisters Eileen, Lorna and Honora Keating after they acquired it in 1939.

In 1952, the sisters put the house in the care of the National Trust on condition that the bees in the roof should be cared for: "We earnestly wish that the wild bees be undisturbed.