The Evolution of "DJ's Bee Bop Palooza"
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Every now and then I get the idea that I should design something with lots of little active characters. Bees just seemed to be a good fit. There is lots of talk these days about saving our bees and one of my wife's cousins and husband is in the honey business, so it all seemed timely.
I started with the idea of many bees bouncing around in a honeycomb, not to densely populated, and all moving differently. Putting a bee in every cell of the honeycomb would require a much more complex mechanism and likely a less colourful look so I ruled that out. I felt the bees needed a purpose to be bouncing so I decided they should dance, and in that regard they should have music. Maybe it could be a take off on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock", only this time a "Cell Block Rock" instead. I thought something a little more contemporary might be nice, so I started thinking of something more like a late nite rave party, but in a beehive rather than a warehouse. This is where the concept of the disc jockey, a principle fixture at such events, started to arise. Fate aligned when it struck me that the name of the honey business was DJ's Honey, named after the proprietors Donna and John. The die was cast. From that moment on the automata was destined to turn into a Bee Bop palooza, a wild exaggerated extravagant party with bees bopping to music. Read the story of the vignette and the cast of characters below. |
The DJ Cranks Out The Tunes!
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Automata "DJ's Bee Bop Palooza" Video
Story of "DJ's Bee Bop Palooza
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It's a tough life being a bee. The average life span of worker bees is approximately six weeks. Drones can be evicted from the hive in the fall to save food for the others, and if a drones should be so lucky as to mate with a queen, he will die shortly after! Worker bees are essential members of honey bee colonies. They do all the hard slugging for the colony. They forage for pollen and nectar, tend to queens and drones, feed larvae, ventilate the hive, defend the nest and perform other tasks to preserve the survival of the colony. Bees work very hard but at night. in the confines of the hive, they let their hair down at the end of day to share stories of the day, relax, party and let off some steam. To inspire the colony a Disc Jockey spins tunes to set the mood and the dancing ensues.
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The Colony's Favourite Playlist A Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert Honey Comb - Jimmie Rodgers Honey - Bobby Goldsboro Flight of the - Nikolai Bumble Bee. Rimsky-Korsakov |