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 

Bzzzzy as a little bzzzzy bee.

 Hello my friends,

August has been a lost month for miniatures in my case. A heatwave with a record length (for the Netherlands) did not help. And before you know it, the month has gone and is replaced by september before I could blink with my eyes. September and even october went the same way. And now we are almost halfway november! 

So did I do nothing? Oh but I did do quite a lot. But little to do with miniatures and  nothing that I can show you here. I think I have been experiencing the "new build anxiety". Building a miniature house is new for me. And I am a risk-averse person. That is why I put so much effort making precise drawings for every room. And with little time and energy to actualy do building work last months, I made a list of everything I need to do to cpnstruct and finish a room. It has become quite a manual that will help me plan every step of the build. 

Because every room will be quite different from the others I will have to make a list catered to the specifics for every room. The idea of making such lists would drive some of you crazy (and rightfully so) but it has helped me enormously to visualise every step of the build and the ideal order in which every step should be followed to assemble each room. But I have not done nothing in mini. I worked on more floortiles and even more floortiles. ;-o

And I started on a beehive. I do not know yet where I will place it in or around the house It will not have garden or a courtyard (since it is surrounded by a moat). If no good opportunity will present itself, it can always end up in the attic. Or perhaps another project when the house is finished?

The construction is very simple. I used hemptwine and a cottonthread in a matching colour. I found a few handy tutorials in magazines. In reality these hives are made from loose grass/straw that is bound together into ropes. These ropes are wound into coils and fastened with strands of grass during the making of the beehive. 

The outside of the hive.

My problem was that both tutorials advise to use a cap or something similar as a mould around which you make the hive. I obviously buy the wrong household items because nowhere could I find a suitable mould. If the size was right, the shape was way off and vice versa. 

The coils are bound together by thread using the 'festonsteek' or blanketstitch. This gives straight lines on the outside instead of diagonal ones. Pretty! My experience in sewing and embroidery is virtually non existent so I found this quite exciting to do. After some trial and error I got the hang of it. Progress was quite slow but I enjoyed stitching the beehive nonetheless. 

The inside of the hive where the extra threads will be hidden from sight. 

After the last coil I turned the hemptwine inward and stitched it to the inside. I am quite happy with how it turned out but de colour of the cottonthread was too light and bright. It really stood out. So, on a friends advice I made some black tea.

One cup with very strong and dark tea for the beehive beehive, and one cup of tea for myself while waiting for the hive to soak away. 

And soak away, and soak away. This process for colorisation is quite slow. The upside of that is that is does not get too dark too quickly. And in this case I want to keep the grassy colour and not end up with an unnatural looking reddish brown hive. 

And here you have the result. The cotton thread and the hemp twine have darkened a bit but not too much. And the cotton has taken on more colour than the hemp so that they have practically the same colour. I am very happy with the result. I will make one or two more hives. 

Be well and stay healthy and safe! 

Huibrecht