Bees and honeycombs with Cinnamon Cider and Bumblebee

Bees and honeycombs have always fascinated me. As a young child I was always looking for the homes of bees. I didn’t find many, but I was able to locate lots of hornet nests! Not caring for hornets, I didn’t bother them.

I would read books about bees. One thing I learned was that honeycombs are made from beeswax, a substance created by worker bees. Worker bees secrete wax scales from special glands in their body. They chew the wax with a bit of honey and pollen to produce the beeswax. Hexagonal cells serve as storage vessels for honey, as well as homes to raise young bees.

As I studied about the honeycomb, I wondered why it was filled with octagon shapes. Worker bees need lots of energy to build their home. This means they need to consume lots of honey. The ratio of honey to beeswax is 8 to 1. The more compact the shape of the honeycomb cell is, the less energy and wax a bee will use to build it. Bees can expend their energy on other important activities—specifically, foraging and making honey.

Bees and honeycombs with Cinnamon Cider and Bumblebee to create a beautiful card for a friend.

I used the Honeybee Home Bundle to create this card. Also used are the Hive 3-D Embossing Folder and Heart & Home DSP, all products found in the Heart & Home Suite Collection.

My two favorite colors from the 2020-2022 In-Colors are Cinnamon Cider and Bumblebee. I chose this designer series paper which actually has Pale Papaya in it. The Bumblebee coordinates nicely, don’t you think?

Bees and honeycombs using the Honeybee Home Bundle

I created lots of texture in this card. I used 2 embossing folders, blending brushes and layers. This is the inside of the card.

Bees and honeycombs using the Honeybee Home stamp set

Here is a video from a live I recently did. Learn how I created the illusion of honey in the combs & some tips& techniques I used to create the card. Also included in the video are the notecards previously shared here.