Sunday 9 May 2010

Honey, honey

How doth the little bee
improve each shining hour
And gather honey all the day
from every opening flower
Everyday matters challenge n° 270,  'draw somthing you'd like to preserve'... mine's a honey bee.
Honey bees have been dying off since 2006,  due to climatic conditions and pesticides.  They are important not only for the production of honey (down by 50% in Italy), but also for the cross pollination and reproduction of wild plants and agricultural crops.  I't's not for nothing that bees are used as indicators of enviromental pollution.
My sketch is in Derwent tinted charcoal pencils.... I went to the art shop just for some paper and came out with a set of them, so how did that happen?

18 comments:

Sandy in Michigan said...

Cathy, I know what you mean about the art supplies -- I think its something in our genes! And your sketch and story about the honey bee are wonderful. We're having the same problem with the decline of the bees here in Michigan, also.

martinepittet said...

Beautiful sketch: the lines ares so soft ! And I share your worry concerning bees.

nanke's stuff said...

A lovely drawing of an important insect. I only wish I knew how to help. nancy

donna said...

The sketch is very very good. And yes, bees are so important. Great take on a challenge.

Patsy Taylor-Craw said...

Beautiful sketch! I worry about the honey bees too.

Alex said...

I love honey! And I feel sad that the bees are reducing in number because of human civilization too :(
Beautiful work with charcoal(I am totally unfamiliar with the media but very tempted to try them). And thanks for your comments on my Breaux Bridge sketch

Sandra said...

My husband glanced over my shoulder and said, "That's a drawing?". Nice work. I have a friend, in a small city about 35 minutes from San Francisco, who is have boxes for bees installed in her backyard.

Lynn Logan Roselli said...

What a beautiful sketch! I am too worried about what we are doing to our planet. What a great blog!

Janene said...

Lovely! The honey bees (which are not native) have been dying off here too due to a bee disease, but the native bumble bees are making a comeback because they have less competition.

alissaduke said...

So soft and beautiful. There is movement in this too , as if the bee was hovering. I would never had guessed this was charcoal.

Sarah said...

Great drawing and an important reminder. there's been some recovery here in the UK but in the USA the situation is really bad I understand - the industrial scale 'farming of bees hardly helps - trucking them around the country to pollinate monoculture crops really stresses them.

Too many people are unaware of the fact that without bees to pollinate our food we die out ourselves.

Unknown said...

Great drawing and a fantastic thing to preserve.

Thanks for all your comments on my blog. Next hotel pic will be Wednesday I think :D

debra morris said...

Beautiful bee Cathy! and a great creature to preserve.

Sandy said...

Pesticides and pollutants are affecting us All - not to the better! I read that if the bees disappear humans will not be around for long - Very Scary and what a beautiful post!!!!

Anonymous said...

The plight of the honeybees has some very scary implications, I wish folks could ditch big business agriculture and the chem companies and get back to real people on real farms raising real food. Ugh, enough of my rant. This is an incredible drawing, with amazing detail yet it looks so soft and delicate. You did an outstanding job with it!!

kazumiwannabe said...

Your bee looks fabulous. Very realistic and cute in a bee way - the way you represented its fur (I don't know if that's the right word) is perfect. Great subject!

Karen said...

Beautiful bee, I love these little insects. How important they are to our existence.
Funny how going into art supply shops has that effect!

Anonymous said...

ah, un'ape!
nice sketch