Yorkton artist's Lego model generating new buzz
When Kelly Litzenberger first built a Lego model of his shop, he had no idea it would become a buzzing attraction.
The original version of the model was built for an art exhibition in 2017, before it found new life with the help of some bees.
“Last year I re-developed the model so that it would be more inviting for the bees to add their honeycomb and the honey to the model and make it their own as well,” Litzenberger said.
Located at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery in Yorkton, the project was initially proposed by the Art Gallery of Regina.
Called “Between Us”, the exhibition is curated by Sandy Moore and run by Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck, who worked with 12 artists across Saskatchewan to mix their work with bees.
"Our part in this is to bring people in Yorkton [like] local artists and beekeepers into this larger project that the Art Gallery of Regina has developed,” said Jeff Morton, director of the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery.
Morton added that the honeycombs give the model a unique presence.
“It just looks so bizarre. You get this sense of time passing even though it's just one season,” said Morton. “If you think about this as like a giant, you know, a proper size building. What that would represent is just like out of this world.”
The model initially had 2200 pieces of Lego and took more than 40 hours to build.
It was placed in a beehive so the insects could get to work on the delicate process.
“It is not something that the bees would naturally build upon. But with a little bit of tasting with some beeswax, you can melt that and spread it on parts of the model,” said Litzenberger. “The smells and stuff of the beeswax will attract them to build, but of course the bees won't always build where you want them to.”
Litzenberger adds it was unique to watch the bees work inside of the model.
“The mindset behind this was this is a model of a building that I used to work in. And now I made it a model for bees to work,” said Litzenberger. “So it was a really cool collaborative effort between me and nature.”
To bee or not to bee, this project deserves a hive five.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Justice advocate David Milgaard remembered as champion for those who 'don't have a voice'
Justice advocate David Milgaard, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent more than two decades in prison, has died.

'Hero' guard, church deacon among Buffalo shooting victims
Aaron Salter was one of 10 killed in an attack whose victims represented a cross-section of life in the predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York. They included a church deacon, a man at the store buying a birthday cake for his grandson and an 86-year-old who had just visited her husband at a nursing home.
As Russia retreats from Kharkiv, music returns in secret concert
In Kharkiv, Ukraine, you can still hear the sound of explosions, but now it's outgoing, with the Ukrainians firing at the Russians in retreat. Russia started withdrawing its forces from around Ukraine's second-largest city earlier this week after near constant bombardment.
Buffalo shooter targeted Black neighbourhood, officials say
The white 18-year-old who shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had researched the local demographics and drove to the area a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance with the intent of killing as many Black people as possible, officials said Sunday.
California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack
A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church on Sunday before being stopped and hog-tied by parishioners in what a sheriff's official called an act of 'exceptional heroism and bravery.'
14 years later, CTV News' Paul Workman returns to a changed Afghanistan
Not long before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February, CTV News' Chief International Correspondent Paul Workman returned to Afghanistan, a country he last visited in 2008 that is now faced with a humanitarian crisis under Taliban rule.
Juno Awards celebrate Avril Lavigne, Deborah Cox and host Simu Liu's many talents
Sunday night's Juno Awards, hosted by 'Shang-Chi' star Simu Liu, honoured Canadian artists such as Avril Lavigne and Montreal singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin
Red River is receding, more than 2,000 evacuees still displaced by Manitoba flood
While the Red River is starting to recede in southern Manitoba, flood waters linger in communities and more than 2,000 people are still displaced.
Inquest to begin in N.B. police shooting of Indigenous woman during wellness check
The lawyer for the family of a British Columbia Indigenous woman fatally shot by police in Edmundston, N.B., during a wellness check two years ago said a coroner's inquest opening Monday offers a chance for her loved ones to get long-awaited answers.