Bee Garden Party hosted by Martha Kearney

There’s a hive of activity at Marlborough House on The Mall as the Queen’s Head Gardener Mark Lane ploughs up borders and digs up lawns to plant a bee-friendly environment in one of Her Majesty’s most beautiful and private palace gardens. It’s all for London’s buzziest night of the year – the Bee Garden Party hosted by the BeeBeeC’s Martha Kearney and Bill Turnbull.

It’s in aid of the amazing charity Bees for Development, which helps people in the developing world create a sustainable living from beekeeping.

The evening event is being staged by Royal permission of Her Majesty The Queen, in her garden at Marlborough House on The Mall, where the beautiful bee friendly flower beds and plants and a special "Pollination Street" are being created with help from Kew Gardens. As Marlborough House is also the HQ for the Commonwealth Secretariat, all the High Commissioners are being invited and there’ll be music from the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and the Commonwealth Steel Band.

A Royal Patron is being appointed for this year’s Bee Garden Party and HE Kamalesh Sharma Commonwealth Secretary-General is among the VIP guests. Competition for tickets will be fierce after last year’s sell out event at Lambeth Palace saw BBC beekeepers Martha Kearney, Bill Turnbull and James Naughtie joined by Jeremy Paxman, ITVs Tom Bradby and guests to eat, drink and enjoy live jazz music on a glorious sunny evening.

This year it’s expected that celebrity chefs, cabinet ministers, beekeepers and broadcasters will again be among the 600 guests enjoying honeyed canapes and drinks while bidding for bee-themed prizes in the auction hosted by Bill Turnbull. There’ll be an observation hive, beekeeping demonstrations and strolls through the beautiful grounds overlooking the Mall.