Morgan Freeman is one of those famous people that is adored by both the young and the old.

He is an actor, filmmaker, as well as director and he, is known for a lot of different roles that he played during his long Hollywood career, so it is difficult to keep track, but his newest role may prove to be his most important one. Now, he is celebrated for his participation in helping, as well as investing to revive the bee population.

According to statistics, one in three bites of food that you put into your mouth today is the result of the hard-working, yet humble honeybee. The sad thing is that bees are dying off at a rather alarming rate. People around the world have done what they can, from planting flowers which bees like to visit, petitioning their governments to stop the use of pesticides which kill bees, and even keeping bees themselves.

Morgan Freeman is no different. His concern about the bees led him to convert his 124-acre ranch in Mississippi into a sanctuary for wild bees with bee-friendly plants such as fruit trees and clover, magnolia trees and lavender, all spanning over many acres. His effort was to help support population growth for the little pollinators.

Back in 2014, he talked to Jimmy Fallon about his new hobby during an appearance on “The Tonight Show.” As he took beekeeping just two weeks before the interview, the actor described how well he and his bees get along. He told Fallon that he does not even need to wear a protective beekeeper’s suit or veil when tending to his precious pollinators, suggesting that he has reached a level of skill, as well as ease akin to his on-screen performances.

He explained:

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 said that he did not start keeping bees as of the sweet tooth, but it was a direct response to the mass bee die-offs which was threatening the survival of wild bees for the past several years. The actor also recognized the chances of making a difference through personal action, so he imported 26 hives full of bees from Arkansas and started feeding them sugar water.

It is quite difficult to measure what kind of an effect the efforts of Freeman will have on the larger bee populations in North America, but his hobby is an inspiring gesture of goodwill toward those tiny living creatures which are usually taken for granted.

He said:

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.

The article Morgan Freeman is now a Beekeeper: He Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Sanctuary to Help Save the Bee Population, was originally published on I Believe In Mother Nature, and it’s republished here with kind permission.

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