Hope is the Only Bee
….  that makes honey without flowers
Each year on Remembrance Day wreathes are placed at memorials to honour those who lost their lives in war.  It appears that a war with an unknown assailant is viciously attacking honeybees and they are dying in the millions. Within this installation I have created wreathes of beeswax flowers that reference memorials as well as the Victorian tradition of hair wreathes which were made of flowers constructed from the hair of departed loved ones.  Within the center of one beeswax wreath is a commemorative coin - a Canadian $3 piece from 2013 with a honeybee on it. I appreciate the absurdity of a $3 coin in addition to the inauspicious nature of a date ending in 13. The world is starting to wake up to the devastating tragedy that awaits us all if colony collapse, the death of honeybees goes on unabated. They pollinate flowers that in turn produce fruit. Seventy percent of the food we consume is the result of insect pollination. The role of insects in decomposing matter is not to be underestimated either. Our world would become a massive trash heap without insects and the human race would no longer exist. The fear we have of insects is generally unwarranted. Their role in the environment is vital.