A LOCAL beekeeper's career achievements were recognised - and his likeness captured forever - by an artist honouring Black History Month, which ends today.

Artist Vernon Clarke painted a portrait of Randolph Furbert, the island's largest beekeeper, as he appeared 16 years ago - clad in a beard of bees - as part of a demonstration he gave on the insects at the Bermuda Annual Exhibition.

The painting was one of several selected as part of an exhibit at Parliament Street's Kafu Gallery in recognition of Black History Month.

"We chose a photo of Mr. Furbert in the bee beard that he'd worn in 1986 at the Agricultural Exhibition - it was the main feature that year - and we built a narrative from the sketches I did of him and notes I'd made while we talked," said Mr. Clarke.

"It's very much a symbolic painting and I thought it fitting for the exhibit as I think beekeeping is very much a part of Bermuda's history and Mr. Furbert, with 265 hives, is the biggest beekeeper in Bermuda.

"The celebration (of Black History Month) is an important one and I thought the significance of beekeeping and the important contribution made by bees to Bermuda was one often overlooked."

Artist Glen Wilkes, one of the exhibit organisers, said the gallery's panel selected the beekeeper's portrait for what it signified.

"We chose pieces that had a black theme or that we felt lent themselves to the Kafu vibe," he explained. "And we thought that (what Mr. Furbert's portrait) was an example of how black people endeavoured in different fields."

Kafu began honouring Black History Month after the Burnaby Gallery, formerly in the LOM Building, closed.

"Manuel Palacio and myself and a couple of other guys had shown (work as part of it) and we decided to take it over after the gallery closed," Mr. Wilkes said. "The idea behind it was to create an opportunity to exhibit images that reflected the theme for this particular month.

"We try to be inclusive and we have a diverse group of artists - myself, Manuel, Peter Lapsley, Caroline Troncossi, Vernon Clarke and others." Mr. Clarke explained that the painting was the result of a beekeeping class, taught by Mr. Furbert. He took the class to gain a better understanding of the process of wax encaustic, where pigments are mixed with hot wax and burned in as an inlay.

"I had been using encaustic more in modelling than in painting," he said. "My experiments had mixed results but this one worked. For me, it was a wonderful experience; learning how honey was gathered and how bees produced the wax. And one day we were talking about my art and (we decided) I would do his portrait." The artist explained that he made sure to include some of the information he'd learned during his classes, in the portrait. "At one point (Mr. Furbert) was talking about the importance of controlling the queen bee. So in the painting, I put her in his right hand as a symbol of (that control)

"The smoker, a device used to spread smoke to calm the bees, I included to depict control of the hive."

The subject of the painting was just as pleased with the result as the artist.

"I was astounded, overwhelmed with it," Mr. Furbert said. "I didn't realise it would come out as it did with so much detail and such a likeness. Sometimes, you see a picture and you have to work to figure out who it is even though you know the person."