Saint Ambrose's beehive

Hello my friends, you were very kind in your responses on my post on the miniature beehive I have made. I had thoroughly enjoyed making it and wanted to make more. And although we associate bees with spring and summer, making beehives was in the olden times typically a job for winter when the fields lay fallow. So making them now is actualy the right season for it. :-)

I used the same hemp twine and cotton thread to make a larger beehive. You can see it in the above picture on the left. After I  finished the second beehive I wanted to make something else. In the tutorial I had used there was also a tutorial for a so called Saint Ambrose beehive. It was used  by catholic beekeepers and/or monasteries as a devotional item in parts of Western Europe. This because Saint Ambrose is the patron saint of the beekeepers.

There is a legend that as an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle, leaving behind a drop of honey. His father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saint's symbology. Saint Ambrose thus became the patron saint of bees, beekeepers and even candle makers! In his iconography, he is often depicted with bees or a beehive – symbols that also indicate wisdom.

He would lend his name to the Latin term for honey ‘ambrosia’ also used in Greek and Roman mythology to describe the food of the gods. St Ambrose is still referenced today by modern beekeepers, using the term ambrosia to describe the mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees to feed bee larvae. His holyday is december 8th of every year. So this post comes a week after his feast. Pity I did not think of that sooner or I would have posted this on the december 8th. ;-)

But back to the miniatures. I decided to use the first hive I made as the body for the Ambrose hive. I added a few rings to add height. In the picture above you can see that the frst hive was quite low next to the second one. It is funny that, with my speed with stitching, It took me several (full) days to make all the elements that you see in the pictures above and below. 

Next I had to make a smaller hive shape for the head. When that was done I weaved a strand of hemptine through one side for the nose. Furthermore I used the same blanket stitch (used on the hives) to make his cape, a bishops miter, two arms (with only three fingers), and 2 ears. Furthermore I braided three strands of hemptwine together just as I did with three strands of the cotton thread. The first of the two braids is used to decorate the bottom of the hive that will be St Ambrose his body, the second one will be used to hold together his cape. Lastly I assembled a bishops staff out of a round bead and two tooth picks, bound together with a cotton thread. 

After all the parts of Saint Ambrose were done I brewed a strong cup of tea and let them bathe in it for a few hours. I had a little doubt about the body. That hive had already had a tea bath before so would it not darken too much now it lay in tea for a second time? The result was that all the pieces came out in roughly the same colour. So that went well. Because I used a different tea than the first time it has a little reddish hue while the large hive is a bit more yellow. 

Then all that was left to do was to assemble all the pieces. I have used tacky glue for this last part. If I want to alter things in the future that may be easier to disassemble Ambrose than when using a thread and neadle. Because which threads do I have to cut then? The cape is not attached to the body with glue. That is just folded over his shoulders and tied together with the braided cotton between the two round beads on the ends. 

Lastly I used two headpins (vut short with yers) with the smallest head I could find in my stash of things. I could swear that the glass heads were of the same colour, but on the first and last photo in this post, you can see that Ambrose's right eye is in reality black while his left eye is blue. I think there is a song in that if the black eye was brown? ;-)

And not without a little pride I present you the newest addition to my family. We call him Ambrose. Does he not look lovely in his attire? He wants to be a bishop when he grows up. :-) 

Well that is it for now. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post. Until next time.

Huibrecht