BEEKEEPING- whether as a hobby or as a profession - is rapidly on the rise as we all become more aware of the plight of the honeybees. Albert Einstein once famously said, “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, humans would only have four years left to live.” More and more people are becoming backyard beekeepers… but this fun blog post is dedicated to celebrities who are currently doing their part as beekeepers— We hope you enjoy this fun information!

SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Scarlett Johansson has been a proponent of saving bees for a long time - and when she met Samuel L. Jackson (a fellow bee lover and beekeeper) on the set of a movie, rumor has it they became fast friends around the subject of beekeeping. After a few conversations on the topic of beekeeping, he figured out the perfect wedding gift for Scarlett and Ryan Reynolds. Samuel L. Jackson gave them a working beehive as a wedding present. The rest is beekeeping history.

JENNIFER GARNER

Jennifer Garner seems to do pretty much everything with ease! Is there anything this classy lady can’t do? As the co-founder of baby food “Once Upon a Farm”, this mother of 3 was inspired by her kids to start keeping bees. “We had a book about beekeeping and then my daughter just got really into it,” the actress told Jimmy Kimmel… “and I thought, Why can’t we have bees? Bees are in trouble. Everyone should have a hive of bees.” Thank you Jen!

ROBERT REDFORD

Our favorite, handsome, classic man’s man - according to a Napa Valley wine enthusiast - is an important beekeeper for the California wine region. He owns a 10 acre property in the secluded town of St. Helena and hosts an abundance of bees for pollenating the delicious grapes for wine making. Our handsome man is also a long time resident of Sundance, Utah… high in the Rocky Mountains. Utah’s state motto is “The Beehive State” which references the early Pioneers who, with great sacrifice, carried wooden carts on wheels (handcarts) from all parts of the world to settle the West for their religious freedom. Sounds like our handsome hero carries on the tradition of Utah—- freedom for all, including the bees!

STING

Gordon Sumner, most commonly known as “Sting” from the band The Police, buzzed his way into super stardom because of his love for bees. During his years at college he became known for wearing black & yellow sweaters - which led to his stage name “Sting”. He is now the Patron of the beekeeping charity, Bees for Development— and he and wife Trudie Styler keep bees at their 400 year old Italian Villa “Il Palagio”. She said “You can’t tell a bee where to go but you can give the bee delicious food”. They have a chestnut grove on their Italian property which makes delicious chestnut honey. Sting and Styler were recently interviewed on CBS and you can see this heartfelt interview by clicking here …

HENRY FONDA

Henry Fonda kept bees at his Bel Air estate, where they feasted on lemon and orange trees. Fonda was known to give friends & visitors & co-stars his own jars of “Henry’s Honey”. His son, Peter Fonda, was named beekeeper of the year for his role in the film Ulee’s Gold, in which he played a beekeeper who is caught up in a family fight between a criminal gang his son.

JON BON JOVI

Our favorite New Jersey rocker is a known beekeeper - and savvy business man! The state of New Jersey boasts certain tax exemptions for land that produces agricultural revenue. So, not only does Bon Jovi employ a full time beekeeper, but he does his fair share to own & provide land for local farming. We all know how important bees are in farming… sounds like this New Jersey native knows what he’s doing!

MARTHA STEWART

The Martha Stewart Omnimedia executive has worn so many professional hats over the years…. a fashion model, a stockbroker, a publisher, editor… and a longtime beekeeper! She keeps very active working beehives on her Katonah, NY farm. She attributes her beautiful garden & thriving flower beds to keeping bees. This avid gardener realized a long time ago that keeping bees is a very good thing. She’ll show you how easy it is to start your own backyard beehive by clicking this link: Martha Stewart Living: Backyard Beekeeping.

MORGAN FREEMAN

In 2014 Morgan Freeman started keeping bees at his 124 acre ranch in Mississippi. He tells the story in a fun interview with Jimmy Fallon (you can watch it click here ) and explains that he doesn’t even wear a bee suit while feeding his bees. He describes his role as a beekeeper as becoming “one with the bees”.

OTHER FAMOUS BEEKEEPERS -

POPE FRANCIS - Pope Francis has ensured the safekeeping of over 500,000 bees! Back in 2011, Pope Benedict was gifted eight beehives which contained more than half a million bees on The Day for the Protection of Creation from an Italian agricultural group. They are well cared for at the pontifical farm of Castel Gandolfo as they produce around 620 pounds of honey per year. You can read an informative story about it by clicking here …

THOMAS EDISON – Edison famously hated the sight and smell of food…. can you believe it! All of his food was cooked in an outdoor kitchen so that he wouldn’t have to inhale any aromas from it. However… he saw an enormous value in the beeswax - as he experimented with sound currents. This makes Edison - unique - AGAIN - as a beekeeper! He may not have been interested in the sweet taste of honey, but he obviously saw the value of the bees neutral wax as he developed the phonograph.

LEO TOLSTOY - Tolstoy was a known avid beekeeper. His wife, Sonja, frequently talked about him caring for his bees, “crouching in front of his hives, net over his head.” She detailed in her diary, “The apiary has become the centre of the world for him now, and everybody has to be interested exclusively in bees!” Tolstoy mentions beekeeping more than once in his famous literary achievement about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia War and Peace (it’s a long book so we’d expect beekeeping to come up!) Tolstoy describes the evacuation of Moscow: “Moscow was empty. It was deserted as a dying, queenless hive is deserted.” Read more on bees and beekeeping in War and Peace.