Honeycomb

The school year has begun again for me, and this semester I'm really excited to be in advanced sculpture. One of the projects I'm working on requires real honeycomb that I can cast in bronze, like this wasps nest casting I found on etsy.
So I called up my local beekeeper, Bill Lewis of Bill's Bees, to see if he could help me out, and he invited me to come see if we could find something.


My friend and I wound up the Angeles National Forest, entranced by the scent of sage and the thunder clouds gently rumbling in the distance.


We met with Bill and I explained what I wanted to do with the honeycomb and he gave me two panels to take home. The brown honeycomb has had baby bees born in it. When they're in their larvae stage, they release a protein that colors the white honeycomb you usually find in your jar of honey a ruddy brown.

The second panel was of the white honeycomb, because he said the protein of the brown honeycomb wont melt in lost wax casting. Also because the brown one had been chewed by mice trying to get to the pollen inside. Thanks Bill!!! The bronze pour for my class isn't until Halloween, but I'm excited to see how the white wax cast in bronze will look. See you then.