Burlington abuzz over edgier look

With their present secure, the Burlington Bees have begun to look toward the future.

The Bees, a Class A Midwest League franchise, play in the recently renovated Community Field, where attendance has increased by 30 percent over the past five seasons. Their affiliation with the Royals is guaranteed through at least 2010, insuring that their on-field talent level will remain intact.

With these fundamental pieces of the puzzle in place, the club thought it was time to adopt a new look. On Sunday, the Bees unveiled their new logo to a gathering of season-ticket holders and club sponsors.

"With so many positive things going on, we found ourselves in a position to be able to appeal to the next generation of Bees fans," said Randy Wehofer, Burlington's assistant general manager.

Both the old and new logos feature a bat-wielding bee, but the difference is in the details. The bee of the previous logo had a peevish expression and was drawn in a style evocative of an old Looney Tunes cartoon. The new logo features a much more confident-looking insect. The sunglasses-wearing bee, antennae protruding from his hat, sports a wry smile as he stares down his opponent.

"When we attended the Winter Meetings over the past few years, we would get a 'that's cute' reaction when we showed people our logo," said Wehofer. "That's not a negative thing, but it didn't fit with the image we were trying to put together."

Studio Simon, a Kentucky-based firm that recently created new logos for the New Britain Rock Cats and the Cedar Rapids Kernels, designed the logo.

"There are only so many things you can do with a bee," said Wehofer. "But I think they did a good job giving it an edgy appeal."

In keeping with its new image, the Bees have changed their slogan from "Catch the Buzz" to "Get Stung by the Fun."

"The logo and slogan are a way to bring attention to the team," said Wehofer. "We've experienced some success over the last few years, and now we have to insure that we don't look like a team that's dragging behind the times."