At nearly 82 years old, Oscar winner Morgan Freeman personally tends 26 beehives on his Mississippi estate, because he believes in the importance of protecting bees.
"I've found that I don't need to wear a beekeeper's suit when I'm with my bees." "That's not true, they've stung you." "No, they haven't stung me." "They will sting you." "You're wrong."
This is one of the exchanges between American actor Morgan Freeman and television host Jimmy Fallon during a 2014 episode of the Tonight show. Two weeks earlier, the actor had moved 26 beehives from Arkansas to Mississippi, to his own estate. Five years on, his 50-hectare ranch has become a true "sanctuary" for bees: it is home to more than a hundred magnolias, and wonderful expanses of clover and lavender. Freeman, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Million dollar baby and known for his outstanding performances in films such as Seven and the Dark Knight Trilogy, personally feeds the insects with water and sugar, without taking any honey.
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According to Greenpeace, 70 out of every 100 food crops are pollinated by bees, which are therefore responsible for 90 per cent of the world's nutrition. This is why the fact that their numbers are declining is a cause for concern. Between 1947 and 2005, the United States lost 59 per cent of its colonies; between 1985 and 2005, Europe lost 25 per cent of its own.
The causes are many: disease, climate change, urbanisation, the spread of monocultures, and the use of pesticides. In particular, the dangers of neonicotinoids for pollinating insects have been confirmed by the European Food Safety Authority: while Europe has banned them, United States President Donald Trump permits their use even within protected areas.
There needs to be a collective effort to bring bees back to the Earth. We don't understand that they are, I believe, the foundation of the planet's growth.Morgan Freeman
Fortunately, many people share Freeman's view. In Bavaria, last February, around one million 750,000 citizens signed a petition calling for a referendum on the protection of bees: the initiative was so successful that the Bavarian government decided to enshrine the proposals contained in the petition in law without holding any referendum.
Even without a 50-hectare estate, it is possible to help safeguard pollinating insects — for example by growing plants and flowers to attract and feed them, such as the tulip, which will add a splash of colour to balconies and gardens, or rosemary and chives, which are also useful in the kitchen. Anyone can support LifeGate's Bee my future project by adopting a thousand bees for a year and thereby playing a part in their protection. Just like bees, which, tiny as they are, guarantee the future of our species, we too, in our own small way, can do something great for them.