Angelina Jolie has become one with the bees — and for a really good cause.
In honor of World Bee Day, Angelina teamed up with National Geographic for a startling photo shoot where she was covered in bees for 18 minutes.
With the help of expert beekeepers, Angelina was doused in a special pheromone to attract and calm the bees as they surrounded her on the set of the photo shoot.
"We couldn't shower for three days before. Because they told me, 'If you have all these different scents, shampoos, and perfumes and things, the bee doesn't know what you are. [They] don't want [bees] to confuse you for a flower, I suppose," Angelina explained.
They also used plugs for her ears and nose so as not to give the bees "as many holes to climb in."
And even with the precautions, Angelina says, one bee still ended up underneath her dress and got dangerously close to an area where you definitely don't want to be stung.
Despite the close encounter, Angelina says she felt "very honored and very lucky to have the experience."
The daring photo shoot coincides with Angelina's Women for Bees initiative, which will train female beekeepers, help build 2,500 bee hives, and restore 125 million bees to their declining population by 2025.
"Pollinators of course are extremely vital to our life and our environment. And so we have to understand scientifically what happens if we lose them. ... When we're losing species, animal or plant, it is destroying something. It is breaking apart the fabric of all the things that we depend on," Angelina said.
She continued, "We're all smart enough to know that these pieces are very, very interconnected and very crucial. I know it seems like I'm now working on bees, but really, to me, the bee and the pollination and the respect for the environment, it's all interconnected to women’s livelihoods, [and to] displacement from climate change."
