SWARMING South, West, North and beyond after Appalachia Rising!

We bees just wrapped up an amazing week! We had two GIANT events to help us kick start our release tour of "The True Cost of Coal," the Common Ground Country Fair in Maine and Appalachia Rising- a mass mobilization against mountaintop removal coal mining in DC. Between the two events we shared our new work with thousands of people and have already distributed hundreds of posters!

What a powerful moment, to stand in the streets of DC with all of the friends, allies, community members and activists who are touched by the story of Mountaintop Removal. Over 100 folks were arrested demanding an end to the destruction, and that is only the beginning! Appalachia is still Rising and we are honored to be a part of this movement. Make sure to visit appalachiarising.org for photos and news stories about the event!

We will carry our part forward over the next few months. As we speak, four swarms of bees are traveling the country, keeping the momentum going for the largest tour in Beehive history! We already have 45 shows booked for October alone and more are in the works. Check out our tour pages to see if we are coming to a town near you!

http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/tour.htm

And please help spread the word to friends in the area!



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Join the Bees at Appalachia Rising! A Mass Moblization to end Mountaintop Removal mining!

Hello friends and allies,

As you know, we released our latest graphic, "The True Cost of Coal" this summer, and the timing could not be more apt, as we are approaching a historic moment in the anti-strip mining movement this month.

From September 25-27, activists and community members from Appalachia and supporters from all over the country will be converging on Washington DC at Appalachia Rising!- a mass mobilization to demand an end to all forms of strip mining! The event is being organized by a broad coalition of citizen, environmental, labor, faith and community groups and individuals who have joined together in one voice to demand an end to the destruction in Appalachia. This has not happened on this scale since 1978.

The weekend includes two full days of strategizing workshops, learning, featured speaker panels and discussions, cultural events, and entertainment. On Monday September 27, we will march, rally, and support individuals taking part in dignified non-violent civil disobedience against mountaintop removal mining.

We bees are honored to be participating in this moment of movement history, and will be bringing "The True Cost of Coal" to the streets of DC at the end of this month to kick off our nation wide release tour of the graphic. We would like to invite you to be a part of this moment as well.

Weather you live close to DC or not, there are many ways you can support this effort! Here are some ways to plug in:

Register to attend Appalachia Rising - http://bit.ly/94qKJQ

Mobilize your community to Appalachia Rising- http://bit.ly/bzweZK

Donate to Appalachia Rising- http://bit.ly/aYUf4O

and of course, spread the word! Visit http://www.appalachiarising.org/ for more info!

Thank you so much for your support! And hope to see some of you in DC!

with honey and solidarity,
the bees

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Beehive in Seattle

We met tons of awesome folks at the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair and InArtsNW, a new artists' coop in Capitol Hill..... We found out that 40% of Washington State's electricity comes from a coal plant in Centralia, WA, that uses coal from strip mines in Montana and Wyoming's Powder River Basin. Oregon also gets 40% of its power from coal.

For more photos of West Coast tour, click here.





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West Coast Tour Underway!

The Beehive's West Coast Bike Tour is on the road! We are travelling by bicycle from Seattle to the San Francisco Bay Area with a portable fabric mural of "the True Cost of Coal," stopping along the way to do workshops and storytellings about mountain top removal coal mining, coal-fired electricity, climate change and the American Dream.

We will also be stopping along the way to eat blackberries.

To find a show happening near you, or to collaborate on organizing a show in your home town, check our tour page!

We will be landing in the SF Bay Area for the first week of October, then heading out again to tour a wider area of the West Coast by (*cough*) car.

We are very grateful to our superheros at Portland's Bike Farm collective for helping us get road-ready. They stayed late, they hooked us up with gear, they helped us with vehicle logistics, they saved our butts. Thank you, Bike Farm!

Take a gander at the photo album of our bike adventure! >
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JOYOUS NEWS! The BEEHIVE'S COAL POSTER has HATCHED!

THE TRUE COST OF COAL is finished, printed, and ready for you to enjoy!

It’s true! After 2 ½ years of discussions, feedback, eraser marks, sketches and rough drafts, THE TRUE COST OF COAL is DONE! And we can’t wait to share it with you!

It is hard to describe the mix of emotions we ‘lil bees are feeling after this final push. Somewhere between exuberance and exhaustion, all of it steeped in immeasurable gratitude to all the folks who have helped make this graphic possible. To all the powerful people and places in Appalachia who shared their stories and their struggles with us, to all the folks who have hosted shows and offered up their floors or couches, to everyone who has kicked down money to keep us going, to friends and family who have emotionally supported us through this rollercoaster of a project, and to everyone else who has touched or inspired this graphic in some way- thank you. No doubt, YOU all are what made this project possible!

Rather than us trying to describe this excitement and gratitude in words, please check it out for yourselves! Experience the full poster and read the narrative at the TRUE COST OF COAL page on our website (http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/coal.htm), and find behind-the-scenes studio shots in our Sketchbook .

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