Morgan Freeman Converted His 124-Acre Ranch Into A Bee Sanctuary
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In recent years, scientists have been pointing to the decline of bee populations across the world and warning of a potential collapse of bee colonies, which could have a disastrous impact on the ecosystem. When actor Morgan Freeman began to hear about these reports, he decided to turn his 124-acre ranch in Mississippi into a sanctuary for bees.
The world learned about Freeman’s beekeeping hobby during a 2014 appearance on “The Tonight Show,” with Jimmy Fallon. In the interview, Freeman revealed that after he learned that bee colonies around the world were in danger of collapse, he bought 26 full beehives and began building his own bee sanctuary.
Freeman said that the bees seem to appreciate his help. He has never been stung while working with the bees, and he doesn’t even wear any protective gear.
“I have not ever used the beekeeping hat with my bees. They haven’t stung me yet, as right now I am not trying to harvest honey or anything, but I just feed them … I also think that they understand, ‘Hey, don’t bother this guy, he’s got sugar water here,’” Freeman said.
Freeman explained that he is just one of many people around the world who is working to save the bees.
“There is a concerted effort for bringing bees back onto the planet … We do not realize that they are the foundation, I think, of the growth of the planet, the vegetation … I have a lot of flowering things, and I have a gardener too. As she takes care of the bees too, all she does is figure out, ‘OK, what would they like to have?’ so we have got acres and acres of clover, and we have some planting stuff like lavender, I have got like, maybe 140 magnolia trees, big blossoms,” Freeman says.
A video posted by The Mauldin Brothers shows some of Freeman’s beehives in action.
https://www.facebook.com/203524789704002/videos/869575459765595/
As Freeman mentioned, he isn’t the only beekeeper in town, and he’s not the only celebrity beekeeper either.
Flea, the bassist of The Red Hot Chili Peppers’s, has established an apiary, which holds three hives, totaling over 60,000 bees. Famous Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansen started beekeeping after Samuel L. Jackson gave her a hive of bees as a wedding present. There were even a number of celebrity beekeepers in the past, well before the concerns of bee colony collapse.
Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author known best for his classic book War and Peace, also owned beehives.
“He is crouching in front of his hives, net over his head. The apiary has become the centre of the world for him now, and everybody has to be interested exclusively in Bees!” Tolstoy’s wife wrote in her diary.
Sylvia Plath, author of The Bell Jar, was also known to keep her own beehives, According to BestBees.
Image credits:Reamronaldreagan [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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