Gloucester News

Gloucester County gets a New Beehive Design

Reporter Kaylee Walls

Almost twenty years ago 8 year old Brianna Fleming painted the classic beehive for Gloucester county’s 350th anniversary. The original design was of the universe with Gloucester in the middle. Brianna repainted the hive located in front of Gloucester Toyota.

She painted the hive in honor of her grandmother, Gene Brundege of Gloucester Toyota. She painted all of her grandma’s favorite flowers along with the cancer ribbon to honor her family members lost to cancer. Feathers and sunflowers were included to honor the death of her 12 year old cousin who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Lastly, the red cardinal at the top is to honor her great grandmother.

The new hive is painted with parts of a John Lennon quote. The hive on the front says “Count your garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall… Count your life with smiles, not the tears that roll”.

The beehive models were originally crafted by Harry Sindle, a previous boat builder. The hives honor different people and places throughout the county that have made an impact.

One very popular beehive was crafted by Cecilia Brown in honor of her father, Dr. Raymond Brown, and all of his contributions to Gloucester County. Dr. Brown was known for his work on the preservation of the Walter Reed birthplace. Because of this, Brown made the hive to look like a giant mosquito to recognize Walter Reed’s findings of mosquitoes and they’re link to yellow fever.

Another popular beehive is the “Gloucester’s Passion” beehive decorated by May Arsenovic. The beehive honors the county’s well-known daffodil theme with bright colors, grasses, and a little frog at the opening.

“Bee Friends” is a similar beehive to “Gloucester’s Passion” but there are some key differences. Painted by Sarah Matheson, there are colorful daffodils painted with bees, with human faces, flying above them. The faces are supposed to represent family and friends of Matheson.