Rick and Morty’s strong influence on pop culture continues thanks to people on TikTok latching onto a phrase found in Season Four of the popular Adult Swim show.


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In the seventh episode of that season, “Promortyus,” Summer and her friend Tricia are watching Summer’s dad Jerry beekeeping through her bedroom window. Tricia starts her monologue with, “Look at your dad, such a dork, keeping bees,” before warming up to the idea, saying, “At least it’s interesting though,” and “It’s kind of cute, like, your dad keeps bees.” She then asks, “How old is your dad? He’s obviously beekeeping age.” Which ultimately leads her to conclude: “Summer, I want to fuck your dad.”



Despite the episode airing back in 2020, the sound only started trending on TikTok in mid-2022, and before long, the concept of a man of “beekeeping age” became a thing.


Like Tricia’s monologue suggests, beekeeping isn’t a hobby typically taken up by younger men; instead, a man being of “beekeeping age” suggests he’s at least in his 40s, maybe 50s, and is still considered attractive. Think “silver fox”, although grey hair isn’t a requirement in this case. Some examples of celebrities who would be considered beekeeping age are Pedro Pascal, Idris Elba and John Stamos, but some TikTokers have gone as young as the 43-year-old Matthew Gray Gubler.



The term isn’t just reserved for famous men, however; some users have made the mistake of exposing their attractive dads to the thirsty masses on TikTok only to be told their dads are of beekeeping age as well.



USA Today spoke to psychology professor Maryanne Fisher to try and understand the rationale behind the term. “To be a good beekeeper, one must also be somewhat intelligent and calm and patient,” she explained. “This man is not keeping bees to get attention from others; he’s engaged in a meditative calmness. That in itself can be attractive and signal confidence and true independence because he’s not trying to signal anything to anyone.”


Whatever it is, these female TikTokers have certainly felt the sting of their gentlemen beekeepers.