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Hollywood celebs turn to beekeeping during pandemic, noble hobby considering they are critical to growing food

Beekeeping has become something of a cause celebre after the worrying statistics about bee populations worldwide were disseminated widely
PUBLISHED AUG 21, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

James Middleton revealed how his parents and sisters, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Pippa, gifted him his first beehive in 2011, in a recent Daily Mail essay. Since then, his beekeeping hobby has helped him get through depression, since when he is with his bees, "it’s as if someone’s pressed the mute button on everything that’s worrying me".

Bee-keeping has become something of a cause celebre after the worrying statistics about bee populations worldwide were disseminated widely. Their pollination activity is seen as critical to growing food -- an estimated one-third of the food we eat depends on it. Since the 2008 recession, urban beekeeping has seen a steady uptick, with the number of beekeepers in the UK, for instance, tripling in 10 years. The US, while late to the trend is picking it up with a vengeance in pandemic isolation. 

Helping the trend is the news of Hollywood celebrities picking up the hobby as work has ground to a halt in the industry and there is plenty of empty hours to fill with a noble hobby. Some celebrities of course have been doing it for years, like Morgan Freeman, who began beekeeping in 2014 and turned his 124-acre ranch in Mississippi into a full-time bee sanctuary. Freeman who has spoken about the importance of wild bees to maintain a balanced environment has planted bee-friendly vegetation like magnolia trees, lavender, and clover on his ranch and doesn't harvest honey or disrupt the hives to help conserve the bee population. His conservation-oriented mentality is also shared by Leonardo DiCaprio who is also a bee enthusiast.  

Then there is Jennifer Garner, who runs a smaller operation and has been doing so since 2017 after she signed on as a co-founder of cold-pressed organic baby food company Once Upon A Farm. She has often advocated beekeeping and the importance of saving the bee population in social media posts and videos.

Paul Hekimian, director of HoneyLove, a nonprofit dedicated to saving bees, helps Garner and other 'newer' bee enthusiasts like Aaron Paul and Sophia Bush maintain their hives. He had this to say about the beekeeping fad. "It’s picked up [since COVID- 19 began]. People are doing things that they never thought they would ever have a chance to do." Just like the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes discovered, people are discovering that beekeeping keeps an overactive mind calm and peaceful. 

The most hip hive on the market is the "Flow Hive", priced between $629-$859. Designed in Australia, it allows the beekeeper to harvest honey without opening the hive. "All the cool kids are doing it now," said Hekimian about the product. David Beckham and Chris Hemsworth are the latest celebrities who have picked up the hobby after buying their own Flow Hives. But the upsurge in the local popularity of beekeeping among Hollywood stars and creatives can be attributed to Los Angeles being an ideal spot for keeping bees. Swarms are attracted to empty hive boxes in two or three weeks and there is enough diversity in urban flora for bees to thrive.

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