Introduction

Our commercial beekeeping operation is located in Revelstoke with operations extending to Armstrong. Our focus is on providing starter honey bee colonies in the spring for beekeepers, and raw honey production in the fall, which is available throughout the year. We also offer beekeeping education opportunities to both youth groups and adults, and we retail/wholesale our products and services through our online shop.

Beekeeping Basics

Managed honey bee colonies are typically housed in wooden boxes that can accommodate 10 frames of foundation called Supers. The bees draw hexagonal-shaped comb within these frames for storing their resources, such as brood, pollen, and nectar that becomes honey. Before being used in the field, beekeepers assemble and protect the exterior of these supers from the seasonal elements such as heat, wind, rain, snow, and cold.

The Fundraiser

We would like to invite local (Revelstoke) artists to participate in a silent auction fundraiser, which will showcase their artistic talent. The silent auction will go live during the design process, and into mid-May. All proceeds will be donated to two important local organizations; Revelstoke Bee City (an organization responsible for promoting pollinator initiatives within Revelstoke) and Community Connections/ Revelstoke Food Bank (http://community-connections.ca/get-involved/donate/). The donated proceeds from the silent auction will be split equally between the two organizations.

Social Media

We encourage artists to share the design process of their artistic creation often on their social media accounts while tagging/sharing it with our BeeKind social accounts. This will enable the public to witness the creative thought process and each creative step that goes into a finished product. We believe that the more each artist shares on their social media accounts, the more interest we will be able to generate towards promoting local artists and the silent auction fundraiser.

The social media campaign will continue for an additional two weeks (until Mid-May) during the silent auction. We encourage artists to promote their designs during this period to support the charitable donations above.

The Challenge

• Five Revelstoke local artists will be selected.
• Three assembled 10 Frame Pine Supers (bee boxes) will be provided to each artist.
• The artists may decorate each box with any design they see fit in any style, keeping in mind they will be used daily by beekeepers.
• Each box must be decorated to be weatherproof and withstand years of the elements (paint, stain, shou sugi ban).
• The boxes should be interchangeable, meaning stacked in any order and still maintain a design, as beekeepers use them in any order.
• Only the exterior of the boxes are to have a design, not the top, bottom, or inside of each box.
• The BeeKind bee is to be incorporated into the design on two sides of each box 2" in size. Exact placement is at your discretion.
• Artists can include their signature/ tag 2” in size on one side of each box.
• A time limit will be set from receipt of boxes to finish product of 30 days.

Gratitude

BeeKind is offering each participating artist a BeeKind gift pack, promotional exposure through our social media channels, and an opportunity to gain local awareness in support of local artists and our BeeKind initiatives.

Opportunity

• If you are a local (Revelstoke) artist interested in participating in our Bee Box Challenge, please send us a short artist bio and photo (head shot) so that we can feature you as a local artist participating in our Bee Box Challenge.  hello@beekindhoneybees.ca
• We will follow up and supply you with assembled bee boxes soon (at the same time as the other artists). 
• We will connect with you throughout the challenge, encouraging you to share/ promote your creative process.
• And we will collect your completed works following the 30 days to be exhibited at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Center until mid-May.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to connect with us.