Flea’s Got Bees

The ongoing shortage of bees has caught the attention of Flea. The bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers has been doing his part to increase the world's bee population by becoming a beekeeper.

TMZ says that Flea started beekeeping as a hobby a few months ago. In July, he added three beehives to his backyard. It's estimated that he has approximately 200,000 bees, with each hive holding more than 60,000 of the insects. A few weeks ago, he posted the above photo to his Facebook page with the caption, "Deep to the hive super organism. I love my bees. Flea's bees."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are only 2.5 million managed bee colonies in the U.S. today, down from 5 million in the '40s, with a decline of 23.2 percent in 2014, which was an improvement from the 33 percent annual decline that had been taking place between 2006 and 2013. The government cites new parasites, pathogens and viruses as being the major causes of the problem, as well as colony collapse disorder, which is the name given to when bees abandon their hives for reasons that have yet to be explained.

Experts say that approximately one-third of our food supply is either directly or indirectly due to honey bee pollination. It is believed that the continued decline of the bee population will result in the shortages of crops, higher food prices and economic disaster for farmers.

As of now, there has been no comment on the matter from Flea's fellow bassist, the bee-nicknamed Sting.

See the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '90s

25 Interesting Rock Movie Facts