Morgan freeman cares for bees a lot more than your average joe. In light of recent news related to reports of mass bee die-offs, the actor has turned his 124-acre Mississippi ranch into a sanctuary for wild bees to help support population growth.
Back in 2014, during a media tour for his new film “Lucy,” Freeman talked to Jimmy Fallon about his new beekeeping hobby during an appearance on “The Tonight Show.”
“There’s a concerted effort to bring 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 so many flowering things and I have a gardener too. Because she takes care of the bees too, all she does is figure out, ‘OK, what would they like to have?’, so we’ve got acres and acres of clover, we’re planting stuff like lavender, I’ve got like, maybe 140 magnolia trees, big blossoms,” he adds.
In total, he imported 26 hives full of bees from Arkansas and started feeding them sugar water. Freeman told Fallon that he doesn’t even need to wear a protective beekeeper’s suit or veil when tending to his bees! When Fallon suggested Freeman had become “at one with the bees,” the actor couldn’t help but agree.
While there’s no clear way to measure how much of an impact Freeman’s bee farm may have on the larger bee populations, he’s setting a good example for others to follow.
Remember, bees are responsible for pollinating a variety of plants and without them our dinner plates would change dramatically! If you want to give beekeeping a try here’s an easy to use bee hive to get you started.