New Watercolor Painting By Eric Buechel
My latest watercolor painting I've titled "The Inspection of The Colony".
Apiculture is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces (including beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard".
Depictions of humans collecting honey from wild bees date to 15,000 years ago. Beekeeping in pottery vessels began about 9,000 years ago in North Africa. Domestication is shown in Egyptian art from around 4,500 years ago. Simple hives and smoke were used and honey was stored in jars, some of which were found in the tombs of pharaohs such as Tutankhamun. It wasn't until the 18th century that European understanding of the colonies and biology of bees allowed the construction of the moveable comb hive so that honey could be harvested without destroying the entire colony. - Wiki
The Inspection of The Colony By Eric Buechel, Sheet Size: 22" x 30" , on 300lb/640gsm Arches Bright White Watercolor Paper
"To make a prairie it takes a clover
and one bee, One clover, and a bee,
And revery. The revery alone will do,
If bees are few".
- Emily Dickinson
Detail of smoker & super and yes Kathy and I are beekeepers.
I do appreciate transparent watercolor paintings, but I prefer opaque watercolor paintings because with these works nothing is by chance. It's either right or wrong and I want to put the colors in place and not let the flow of the water do it for me.
Detail: Note the cast iron park chair behind Kathy & the bright red hive tool near the smoker.
Detail of Kathy Inspecting The Deep Bee-Hive Frame.
My Mother and Law Kim Sommers Watching From a Distance.
The majority of this watercolor is just that-watercolor; however I'm not a purest and I don't hesitate using gouache along with the watercolor in order to achieve the results I'm looking for.
National Geographic Documentary PBS Natural Beekeeping Discovery Channel - Video
Silence of the Bees (Nature Documentary, Full Length) - Video
Honey Bees Back Yard Beekeeping Made Simple - Video
North American Beekeeping Federation - Link
The American Apitherapy Society - Link
Apiary Inspectors of America - Link
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture - Link
State Apiarist and Apiculturist - Link
Tennessee Department of Agriculture Apiary Registration Form - Link
