Explain the Bee

I produced this drawing as a response to a brief asking us to ‘Explain the Bee’. Any aspect of bees could be used. I researched bees at length and found that precision of the hexagonal cells that form the honeycomb were a cause of great concern for Charles Darwin who, it is alleged , delayed the publication of his ‘On the Origin of the Species‘ until he had looked into them in great detail, becoming a bee keeper. He found that he could trace the evolution of the hexagonal cells through bumble bee circular cells, stingless bees squared cells and then on to the honey bees hexagonal cells. Anyway – this drawing is supposed to elude to those aspects of my research showing Darwin with Bees on the brain, along with a beard of bees and honeycomb and the hand of God symbolising the divine  design of the bee and it’s architecture, as well as elements of Darwin’s ‘Tree of Life’ which can be seen in the wrinkles around his eyes.

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