The Hive

At trip down to Kew Gardens today with my friends M, D & V to see the new art installation The Hive. it's an open-air structure standing 17 metres tall and weighing 40 tonnes, The Hive encapsulates the story of the honey bee and the important role of pollination in feeding the planet, through an immersive sound and visual experience. 

The Hive is the design of UK based artist Wolfgang Buttress. It was originally created as the centrepiece of the UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo.  It is constructed from around 170,000 parts including thousands of pieces of aluminium which catch the changing sunlight. There are 1,000 LED lights dotted around its core which glow and fade, while a unique soundtrack hums in response to the activity of real bees in a beehive behind the scenes at Kew.  (Kew website)

It's an amazing experience. You can also experience four types of vibration caused by honey bees through bone conduction.  This involves holding a thin disposable stick in your teeth, putting the other end in a metal slot and sticking your fingers in your ears.  This enables you to 'hear' begging (the bee requesting food); the waggle dance (showing the location of food); tooting (a virgin queen bee challenging an unborn one); and tooting & quacking (an exchange between two queen bees).  

The extra is a photo of two very tame ducklings who were around my foot and bag as I ate lunch - they were looking up in expectation!