THE Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed he had some very special confidants during his childhood – honey bees.

The Most Rev Justin Welby, the former Bishop of Durham, made the revelation to presenter Martha Kearney as part of her new BBC series The Wonder of Bees.

He said that his grandmother sparked his interest in beekeeping as a child and encouraged him to ‘tell the bees the news’.

Mr Welby said: “She took me down and I’d say how school had been and what I was doing.

“And then as I grew up and, ‘I got a boat’ and ‘there’s this pretty girl here’ and that sort of stuff.”

Mr Welby goes on to talk about bees in a religious context, referencing the legend that says they were the only creature to escape untainted from the Garden of Eden and that hives are used in religious art to symbolise harmonious monastery life.

His appearance in the series is due to air on BBC Four on April 21.