Carrboro abuzz over new bee mural on fire station

Carrboro’s Fire Station 1 is getting a fresh coat of paint, courtesy of The Good of the Hive Initiative. 

Muralist Matthew Willey founded the initiative to bring awareness to the declining honeybee population by painting bees on murals across the United States. He plans to paint 50,000 bees — the number needed to sustain a healthy hive.

Willey has painted bee murals in LaBelle, Fla., Washington D.C., Asheville, Seattle, Chapel Hill and Durham. Fire Station 1 in Carrboro is the site for the eighth and most recent mural of this initiative. 

Annette Stone, Carrboro community and economic development director, said the mural raises awareness about the plight of the honeybee.

The mural is still in progress, but that hasn’t stopped it from drawing the attention of the community.

“It’s been widely loved and appreciated already,” Stone said.

John Rintoul, vice president of the Orange County Beekeepers Association, said the mural serves as more than just a piece of art. 

“I think it’s drawing attention to the bees," Rintoul said. "I’ve talked with (Willey) several times and he’s been attracting attention from the community. People are seeing him working and coming up to him and asking him about the bees. I think these kinds of things help educate people about some things they normally wouldn’t think about.”

Willey said the main focus of the initiative is to keep these dying pollinators and the structure of their ecosystem in the minds of the public.

“The biggest part of my initiative is human beings — love us or hate us — we don’t stick with anything that isn’t in the front of our minds,” he said.

Willey said his inspiration for the initiative came from an experience he had in his New York City apartment. He saw a bee slowly crawling on the carpet and stopped what he was doing to investigate.

“I was able to get down and near it and really look at it up close,” he said. 

The bee died two hours later and Willey buried it in his backyard. He said this up close and personal look with the dying honeybee caused him to start looking into the lives of honeybees. 

His search for more information about bees led him to the term “altruistic suicide.” When bees are sick, they leave their hive to die and prevent the sickness from spreading to other bees. 

Willey said he began to see similarities in the hive ecosystem and the relationships of humans. This new interest in the subject compelled him to use his artistic skills to do something about the plight of the bees.

Willey’s quest began with a text from a friend containing a picture of the wall of Harold P. Curtis Honey Company in LaBelle, Fla. He contacted the company about painting a bee mural on the wall, but was told it was against city law to paint murals on buildings and they could not pay him. 

Willey said he'd do it for free if the law was changed. 

Soon after, the city approved the mural, and Willey set to work on his first mural. During the 10 weeks spent working on the mural, the community came together and supported him. He was given an RV to stay in while he was working in LaBelle and received donations of food from local restaurants.

Willey said he will be finishing the Carrboro mural next week.

He said not everyone has to be a beekeeper to help bees.

"What we need to do is work on the environment and keep the bees and pollinators in the front of people’s mind,” Willey said. 

city@dailytarheel.com