| Existing comment:
The beehive symbol is everywhere in Utah. It's on their state road signs, their state seal, etc. The sign by these beehives says "The Beehive. Symbol of Industry, the motto of the citizens of Utah." However, like just about everything in Utah, there is Mormon symbology behind the beehive. Another sign in the capital describes the symbol this way: "For the mid-ninteenth century Mormon pioneers who fled westward to establish a new kingdom on the American frontier, the beehive symbolized the social order they hoped to build. Well-guarded and stocked with provisions generated from the resources of the land, a hive offers protection, shelter and sustenance to those willing to work for the benefit of the group. The pioneers called their new home 'Deseret', meaning honeybee, they decorated their furniture, architecture and quilts with beehives, and they worked industriously to make the desert 'blossom like a rose.' In 1896 when the territory became a state, it was no surprise that the beehive symbol and the motto 'Industry' were officially adopted as Utah's state symbols." These particular beehives were presented to the state by the Kennecott Copper Corporation in 1976. |