ORLAND — Those passing through Orland will be quick to notice that two giant honey bees have invaded Interstate 5 and are here to stay. The Clean California Beautification project made its way to the north state on Tuesday with the unveiling of the two new bee sculptures, celebrating Orland’s status as the Queen Bee Capital of North America. Caltrans and the city of Orland partnered to get the ball rolling on a new centerpiece and ultimately tapped structure artist Jake Midgley to design and build the sculptures.
Midgley said the project took him about two and a half years. “I used to like to take everything apart,” Midgley said of how he got into structure work. “There was always stuff lying around so I would take it and I would want to make my mom happy so I made little sculptures.
” Originally, the bees were meant to be made from recycled material. During the event, Midgley showed a picture Orland provided him that acted as an early draft of sorts. As he worked on the project, he decided he wanted to make the bees more realistic and turned toward metalworking.
“It took me another year to learn how to shape steel,” Midgley said. “There was a time when I almost wanted to give up.” Midgley pushed through and with some help was able to bring the bees to life.
The two sculptures sit on either side of I-5 at Newville Road near the onramp and offramp. One sculpture depicts a bee on a flower while the other is a bee on a honeycomb structure. The beautification p.
