In a courtyard, that is.

The "Bees at The Bee" art show, a benefit for the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Sacramento Bee's open courtyard at 2100 Q St.

The event, free and open to the public, is part of the Sacramento Bee's annual Second Saturday celebration. Artists from a 12-county area were invited earlier this year to submit their work. Submissions include acrylic paintings, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, metal and paper sculptures, photographs, fused glass plates, pendants, a fleece blanket, crocheted multimedia, collages, monoprint-woodcut, neckpiece, individually painted CDS and a scrimshaw engraving on a mammoth ivory.

"I'm really blown away by the level of quality, the ingenuity, and the variety of content we're seeing for this show," said art show coordinator Laurelin Gilmore, an artist based in Sacramento. "It's a relatively narrow theme, but concern for the plight of the honey bees is filtered through each artist in a different way, and the results run the gamut from funny to beautiful to profound. Every time I see a new piece for this show, I am re-energized!"

"Bees at the Bee" will feature more than 60 artists. All of the artwork on display will be for sale with a portion going toward UC Davis honey bee research. In addition to the artists, political cartoonist Rex Babin will show his cartoons and sign postcards.

The public is invited to meet the artists, listen to music and enjoy refreshments and generally celebrate the importance of bees and how artists depict them. Four bands will be playing from 3 to 8 p.m., including Mae McCoy and the Neon Stars. The Old Soul Coffee Co. will be selling drinks and sweets and Scoopy, The Bee's mascot, will be handing out chocolate "bees," said Second Saturday event coordinator Pam Dinsmore, community affairs director at the Sacramento Bee.

Free samples of Honey Lovers, a new line of candy (fruit chews) by Gimbal's Fine Candies, San Francisco, will be handed out. Gimbal's is donating 5 percent of the proceeds from the sale of its Honey Lovers for UC Davis research. Also planned are hand-outs from Burt's Bees, Haagen-Dazs (one of the UC Davis honey bee research partners) and the Pollinator Partnership.

UC Davis Department of Entomology will provide a bee observation hive, a glassed-in hive showing hive activity and the three castes of bees — queen bee, worker bees and drones. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, will be there to answer questions. One-third of the food we eat is pollinated by bees, Mussen said.

Other educational exhibits are also planned, as well as a huge cut-out of a bee, part of the entomology display at the UC Davis Picnic Day. The Bohart Museum of Entomology will offer T-shirts and other gift items for sale. Parking is free in The Bee lot on Q Street, which is just a short walk to Midtown and all the other festivities occurring at Second Saturday. Across from the Bee is Revolution Wines, site of wine tasting.

More information: http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/news/beeartshowartists.html