Form and Function Working Together

My Neighbor and OSU Emeritus Prof Michael Burgett gave me a quick tour of OSU's Honey Bee Hive Laboratory where a piece he'd commissioned from me is hard at work. (See original post.)

At the beautifully landscaped lab, they have working hives of many different designs, including my pottery hive, created to look like a Greek-style Hive used centuries ago and also today.

Underneath a marble lid you'll find rows of wooden slats.

Each slat is spaced the distance bees like to make their combs.

It appears they like using it. Comb in process.

Comb being filled with honey.

A couple other types of hives: European-style, and how the bees did it before we humans decided we would like to harvest some of their hard work... 

Unusual Commissions

Beehive in the Greek Style

Sometimes a request for a piece comes in that is too good to pass up. My neighbor happens to be honeybee man and Professor Emeritus Michael Burgett in OSUs Entomology Dept. His "Far Side Entomology" was deemed the Best College Class in the Nation by Playboy in 2010....but I digress.

Prof Burgett has created a Bee Hive "Museum" at OSU's Bee Lab and wants a replica of a greek beehive like they have used in Greece for the past few centuries. Beekeepers arrange sticks across the top and the bees do the rest. There will be a small opening cut into the bottom for the bees once the clay sets up enough.

Key to my taking on this project was Michael's  promise the beehive didn't have to be perfectly uniform. Hives in the images he showed me were probably all coil built as was this one, but by skilled craftspeople who had made quite a few of them. They looked thrown. This one leans a bit and has a slightly wonky top. After taking this photo I noticed one handle was larger than the other...fixed. The lettering will be carved out to say honeybee in Greek.

Hoping this will be 15 x 15 inches after firing.

Looking forward to adding "In the Collection of OSU Entomology Dept's Honeybee Museum" to my Vita.