In July 2014, Morgan Freeman started to become a beekeeper and subsequently into bee conservation due to their decline. The video on YouTube below provides information about his start in beekeeping. The video starts at the point that Morgan Freeman talks about it. And below the video is a tweet which is self-explanatory. Bee populations are in decline in many countries including the UK and as I understand it in the USA. What are the causes of be decline? Habitat loss is one reason due to intensive urban development and farming which cause significant losses and fragmentation of pollinator-friendly environments. Climate change is a factor as well as it disrupts bee behaviour. Winters are becoming warmer and wetter. And of course, pesticides including neonicotinoids.
Thank you, Morgan Freeman! #SaveTheBees #Pollinators pic.twitter.com/Ucp9HpKc4N
— Nasrene MacDonald ? (@nasrene41) June 19, 2022
Neonicotinoids are a group of insecticides. They are widely used in urban environments and on farms. They are absorbed by plants and can be present in pollen and nectar. This makes them toxic to bees. Research has been published which clearly indicates that they are killing bees and changing their behaviour.
The EU banned 3 neonicotinoids in 2013. There has been a gradual tightening of the EU’s regulatory grip on neonicotinoids in response to a strong body of research which informs us that they are lethal to pollinators such as bees.
Neonicotinoids pesticides can ‘stay in the US market’ the EPA said on February 3, 2020. The US Environmental Protection Agency stated at that date that they wanted neonicotinoid pesticides to remain in the US marketplace despite their neurotoxic risks to people and bees and other wildlife. It appears, therefore, that this toxic pesticide is still in use in the USA thanks to big business which, arguably, is less concerned about bee conservation than the general public. No doubt this is a factor as to why Morgan Freeman has gone into be conservation.
Ther are more articles about bees below.
Big-brained city bees live a better life
What would happen without pollinators? The humble moth is an unsung pollinating hero!
Can bees kill humans? Not normally but 6 died of bee stings in Nicaragua
The giant bee that sells for almost $10,000 (dead)
