These objects highlight the intelligence of bees as animal architects; as well as the connection between bees and the food we eat. The artists have gently, but deliberately, tested the adaptability of bees as animal architects.

We’ve always eaten bread and honey. Bread has been a dietary staple in the west for millennia and honey has been hunted, robbed, produced and consumed for longer than that. These materials are immemorial and can be traced to the ancient via archeological sites throughout the Mediterranean - jars of (still edible) honey were discovered alongside treasures in Egyptian tombs; loaves of bread were found, intact, in the ashes of Pompeii.

Artistically, the works are a continuation of an old idea of honeycomb attached to unexpected objects. In Botha’s Shelter, South Africa, and we have something similar in Morocco too. Bee build comb and make nests in many places: wall and tree cavities; compost bins; service pits in footpath; and on baguettes, pretzels and dinner rolls. Although the shape of the breads was known, the comb the bees made was always a surprise. This is a true collaboration with the bees as, although the artist directed where comb could be built, the outcome (the shape,size, colour and number of comb segments) was improvised by the bees, in the hive.

In Australia the breads reflected the various culture that emigrated there: Italian sourdoughs; Turkish smit; French baguettes; German pretzels. In Italy the story of the breads selected is the story about the deep traditions of Italian baking and regional styles: similar breads have different, quite interesting, shapes; ingredients change from region to region.

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