BY TENDAI SAUTA BEES never sting unless offended or charmed by sweet scents from flowers or perfume.
Thus bees pester those wearing perfume simply because they would only be mistaking the perfume as flowers and would be seeking to extract necta from them to make honey.
Tafadzwa Tandi expresses his admiration of the beekeeping industry, the unity and teamwork in bees through his figurine of the Best Bee Keeper.
NewsDay Life & style sought more detail on The Best Bee Keeper statue , a woman in relaxed posture as bees land on her dress while the other swam is sucking necta from a flower adjacent to a honeycomb carried on her head. An amazing motif of kinky hair and honeycomb holes, including the huge bees centralise the attraction on the highly lifting springstone carving which is suitable for both indoor and outdoor mounting.
Tandi said creation of conducive environments and thinking safety before work is key for any livelihood, especially when carrying out work. Bees could be dangerous and have killed people in some instances due to their painful stings. The irresistible sweet taste of honey, either as food or for medicine made humankind dare study bees and eventually establish a cordial relationship which farmers to date conveniently capitalise on.
“This sculpture is called The Best Bee Keeper . The beekeeper has natured a good relationship with bees throw growing flowers and trees around them. The honey comb on her head is a harvest, while the flower to her left hand is simply a decoy and token of appreciation. Honey gives us good health as it clears lungs, heals wounds and sweeten medicine. It is recommended in healthy living,” said Tandi.
Tandi found the COVID-19-induced lockdown as an opportunity to fine tune his creativity and precision on his preferred hard stones such as aventurine, agite, dolomite and springstone.
“I got more local and international customers during the lockdown and am in the middle of servicing them. We depend on God and we live by his command and that is why l listen to his living word,” he said.
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Beekeeping is one of those skills that require a lot of patience and character grooming and Tandi believes the economic difficulties people experience are born from a lack of exploration of several things deemed difficult and dangerous.
“Most people dare poaching instead of getting proper training in hunting and beekeeping,” he said.
A strong education system is one in which the school offers schemed lessons on several essential boards of knowledge and relevant skills. Gaps in training or lack of precise expertise has resulted in some manpower and product shortages. Some skills and patents have been refined through blood lines and over the years are resilient brands.
A perfect example of family grown patency is the stradivadi violin, whose last remaining pieces were sold for over £100 at an auction. For Tandi it runs in the family as all his brothers including NAMA award nominee Farai Tandi famed for The Bundles of Joy, got direct mentorship from their father Thomas, who passed the carving skills from their grandfather Gabriel Tandi, a first generation sculptor.
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