Morgan Freeman bought a ranch in Mississippi that he’s turned into a bee sanctuary. The actor feeds and looks after the bees himself, and the main reason for creating the sanctuary is quite interesting.
In October 2018, Morgan Freeman appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where he discussed his National Geographic series “The Story of God.” He travels around the world talking to people about their different versions of God and spirituality on the show.
The star revealed that he realized that people weren’t too focused on a god. According to Freeman, the focus for most people was more on the afterlife in their religions.
Freeman shared, “Religion is pretty much about not dying,” before adding his assessment, saying, “99.9% of human beings don’t want to die.” The actor shared how he could accept that death was nothing because one minute you’re here and the next you’re not.
The star then revealed how his father had been more of a “scoundrel” regarding religion, whereas his mother would diligently go to church on Sundays. His mother even tried to get Freeman’s father to go along, but he couldn’t get along with the shouting and jumping in church.
However, the legendary actor told a hilarious story of his father pruning a fruit tree at 72. The star’s father fell while doing his task, hurt his back, and failed to heal from the injury causing him to walk with two canes.
One day, Freeman came home to find his father reading a thick Bible, seemingly changed from his lack of belief in religion. When the star questioned his father about it, the parent hilariously told him:
“You never know!”
During his Esquire interview in 2012, Freeman opened up about his thoughts on death. He confessed that he was “very concerned about longevity” and didn’t want to die because he still had a lot to do in life.
The “Million Dollar Baby” star said he took advantage when he got a chance to do fewer things or do nothing! The Oscar Award-winning star knows a bit about death because, in August 2008, he was involved in a deadly car crash.
Morgan Freeman at his upscale restaurant Madidi on September 23, 2005, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. | Source: James Patterson/Getty Images
Freeman never fully healed after, as evidenced by his paralyzed left hand, which he grabbed and winced over during his Esquire interview. The actor was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he remained in serious condition for several days.
While involved with Take Part for its UN Climate Summit Film, “WHAT’S POSSIBLE,” the “Invictus” star shared his thoughts on climate change and its impact on humans. The actor noted how one-day people would wake up and find how we changed the face of the Earth.
He described climate change as the biggest crisis the world has ever faced but acknowledged that it also presented an opportunity to solve it. Freeman said people just needed a concerted effort because everything we needed to make a change was available to us.
The actor urged people to act accordingly because they had many reasons to do so. He concluded his pitch by encouraging people to start making a difference today and not wait until tomorrow.
The Academy Award-winning actor has a 124-acre ranch near Charleston, Mississippi. He bought the land from his parents in 1991 and then built a hacienda-style home, but he also has another house in New York City.
The ranch has a swimming pool and appears to be surrounded by nature, offering peace and quiet for the dweller. To get to Freeman’s ranch, one has to drive for miles through the Delta country.
Freeman also co-owns a fine-dining establishment called Madidi, where he socializes and conducts business. The business and home represent his “deep[ly] emotional and financial commitment to his home state.”
Speaking to AARP The Magazine in 2007, Freeman explained, “I have deep genetic roots in Mississippi.” The restaurant was situated down the road from his ranch, boasting peach trees and stables.
Freeman has a tiny island just over the hill in the pond and coastal Bermuda grass that has eight percent protein on the ranch. He carefully planted trees, including cedars and willows, with the latter soaking up the drainage and keeping the ground firm.
The land was where his grandparents once worked and where the actor spent much of his childhood. The home was also where his parents’ gravesite was situated and where he could visit family that had passed.
“The Shawshank Redemption” star has horses he loves taking care of while spending his time in nature. Showing off his knowledge, he shared how his alfalfa grass, 12 percent protein, had to be cut down and baled eventually.
The bales were sold in winter to farmers for cow feed; Freeman seemed imprecise when talking about his family and history but more precise when talking about livestock. He also knew how mosquitoes were attracted to exhaled carbon dioxide; horses didn’t need to be stabled, etc.
The ranch also boasts a golf course across the road from some corn. Freeman’s ranch also has a man-made pond, which the star said he built for protection because his property sits on the edge of the delta.
When “The Bucket List” actor lived in New York, he was depressed and doing work on a television show, which he hated. He was doing it for money and had struggled with alcoholism in his apartment.
The star’s ancestors had worked the land’s soil, and his mother’s home still stands there. Freeman shared how he found solitude and peace on his ranch, which represented safety, that he explained as such:
“Psychic safety. So I tell people I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
In July 2014, Freeman appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” revealing that he was a new beekeeper. The iconic actor hilariously shared that he’d just gotten the bees in the sanctuary two weeks before.
In 2016, while on “larry king now,” [morgan] freeman shared his concerns about the extinction of bees.
The star shared how the bees had come from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and because they were out of their regular environment, the actor had to feed them regularly. He provided them with two parts of sugar and one part of water in their hive.
Freeman also shared that he discovered he doesn’t need a bee suit to feed the bees. Jimmy Fallon was shocked by the information and insisted wearing a suit was the safest way not to get stung.
The actor refuted Fallon’s claims and said one had to “resonate” with the bees to avoid being bitten. When the television show host pressed him on why bee suits were created if that was the case, Freeman said it was for people who couldn’t resonate!
Despite struggling with the pain in his left shoulder that causes him to wince while walking, sitting, or rising from his couch, Freeman still took after his bees. The actor explained what the almost constant pain was, saying:
“It’s the fibromyalgia. Up and down the arm. That’s where it gets so bad. Excruciating.”
In 2016, while on “Larry King Now,” Freeman shared his concerns about the extinction of bees. He said there had been a “frightening loss of bee colonies” in the US to a point where scientists claimed, “this is dangerous.”
The star also shared how “thousands of species of animals that are disappearing because of what we’re doing.” At age 85 in 2022, Freeman was still doing better than most, not only for his future but also for the world.