Ian McKellen is a reluctant expert on bees.
He noted that in his recent film “Mr. Holmes,” the legendary Sherlock’s in his 90s, retired, and tending to bees.
When he was told he’d have to work with the critters, McKellen recalled at a Lotos Club Q&A, he told director Bill Condon, “No, Bill, I’m not!” But “then they explained that this is an independent movie, which means a cheap movie…You can’t have all the CGI,” the “X-Men” star learned.
“So I went to bee school” — which was fashionably located at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly. There’s a guy there who keeps bees, in rather fancy hives, as you can imagine,” McKellen said. “I hope the bees appreciate it.”
He never got stung.
The beekeeper tipped off the actor that honey from London is better than from the English countryside because flowers and trees in the city aren’t sprayed with pesticides.
Plus, Fortnum & Mason bees feed almost exclusively on flowers at Buckingham Palace.
“So the royal family are being robbed daily of their nectar by the other queen in the hive,” McKellen summed up.