The Good of the Hive Mural

Artist Matthew Willey paints a bee mural on the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Great Ape House

The Great Ape House is home to a mural of hand-painted honeybees! 

The mural is part of Matthew Willey's The Good of the Hive initiative, which raises awareness about the importance of pollinators, while celebrating the beauty and power of nature and human connection. Willey plans to paint 50,000 honeybees (the number necessary for a healthy, thriving hive) in murals around the world.

The mural at the Zoo includes 353 honeybees (351 female worker bees, one drone bee and one queen bee), a hover fly, a rusty patch bumble and a cicada killing wasp.

Don't miss the companion installation: Bending Hives.

Bending Hives

Location: Adjacent to Kids’ Farm

These wood and metal, curved bee-hive sculptures spark curiosity and imagination. Look closer, with new perspectives, at the world we share with bees.
 

More pollinators, please? Check out the new Me and the Bee Playground, sponsored by Land O'Lakes, Inc., located next to Kids' Farm.

Image above represents work by Matthew Willey.