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The Hive: Kew Gardens' breathtakingly beautiful installation simulates a living beehive

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be inside a beehive, then ponder the thought no longer. This summer, at Kew's Royal Botanic Gardens, you can experience the world of the British bee within Wolfgang Buttress’ award-winning installation, The Hive.

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All images courtesy of Kew | Credit: Jeff Eden, RBG Kew

All images courtesy of Kew | Credit: Jeff Eden, RBG Kew

It was initially created to be the centrepiece of the UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo, and has now been brought back to the UK to wow visitors on this side of the pond. The intricate installation spans 17 metres in height, and its shape is designed to mimic a swarm of bees, acting as "a visual symbol of the pollinators’ role in feeding humanity and the challenges facing bees today."

Inside the structure are thousands of LED lights, which set the mood alongside an orchestral arrangement. "After discovering that bees hum in the key of C, a beautiful, complementary symphony of vocals and cello was composed and recorded (and released as an album), to create a calming, meditative soundscape within The Hive, inspired by the deep visceral hum of bees."

During September, Kew is also offering a series of 'Hive Lates', which encourage guests to view the installation just before nightfall. And as you'll see from the photographs, the structure takes on an entirely new form in the absence of light. For more information, visit www.kew.org.

A figure in a yellow jacket stands on a path beneath Wolfgang Buttress' The Hive, a towering latticed white structure mimicking a bee swarm against a cloudy sky at Kew Gardens
The Hive installation by Wolfgang Buttress rises 17 metres above manicured lawns at Kew Gardens, its intricate latticed white structure designed to resemble a swarm of bees, surrounded by curved pathways through parkland
The Hive installation glows with golden LED lights at dusk, its intricate latticed structure resembling a swarm of bees, with visitors standing beneath on grass at Kew Gardens
Looking up inside The Hive, a spiralling geometric structure with concentric rings of illuminated golden lights converging towards a bright central point
Visitors stand beneath the intricate latticed structure of The Hive at Kew Gardens, with dramatic shadows cast across the wet floor below
Interior view of The Hive installation showing its intricate honeycomb-patterned structure with visitors walking on the floor beneath diffused natural light filtering through the latticed roof
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