‘BEES, A Story of Survival’ at the Royal Ontario Museum
https://www.rom.on.ca/whats-on/exhibitions/bees-story-survival
Date
Currently Open May 16, 2026 to Oct 18, 2026
Location
Level 1, Special Exhibition Gallery, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, CANADA
Admission
$13 Surcharge Free for Members—Learn More
Audience
Recommended for Adults, Families, Teens & Youth
See the world through a bee’s eyes
Journey into the world of bees in a stunning new immersive experience that brings together the beauty of art with the power of science. Created by the National Museums Liverpool in partnership with award-winning artist and sculptor, Wolfgang Buttress, the exhibition highlights 120-million years of bee adaptation and survival, telling the epic tale of these incredible creatures and their relationship to us and the natural world.
Based on science and full of imagination, the experiential exhibition, presented by Desjardins Financial Group, offers a fusion of nature, art, music, and architecture that transports visitors into the world of bees – from the tiny, fascinating anatomy of a single bee and the magical wonder of honey bee colonies to the important roles bees play in our lives and the everyday threats they face.
Through immersive environments, art installations, soundscapes, and more, learn about the life of bees and the world they inhabit. See an ancient, fossilized bee encased in amber, enter a stylized honeycomb, take a moment to hear “like a honey bee”, and experience changing patterns of light generated from the sounds of over 30,000 bees.
Small but mighty, bees are a critical ingredient of a healthy natural world but are under continued and increasing threat. Powerful in what they can provide, and yet powerless to overcome the threats to their existence, the exhibition takes a closer look at bees – including some local specimens from the collections at ROM – to help guide a better understanding of what we can do to help prevent bee species from disappearing forever.
BEES: A Story of Survival is an evocative, engaging feast for the senses guaranteed to take the sting out of getting better acquainted with our buzz-worthy friends.
Related publications
Wilson, O.J., 2023. The 3D Pollen Project: An open repository of three-dimensional data for outreach, education and research. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 312, 104860.
Wilson OJ, Marchant R. 2025. Using 3D pollen models and participatory palaeoecology to connect people with intangible palaeoenvironmental records. Quaternary Newsletter (2025 Jun 30): 41-47.
3D Pollen Project: https://3dpollenproject.wixsite.com/main
3D Pollen printing files https://www.morphosource.org/projects/00000C627
See also
Hayes A. 2024. “The 3D Pollen Library Collection at NIH3D: From Humble Beginnings to the Largest Open-Source Collection of Online 3D Pollen Models Worldwide.” infocus Magazine (published by the Royal Microscopical Society). https://www.rms.org.uk/resource/the-3d-pollen-library-collection.html
https://www.doi.org/10.22443/rms.inf.1.277
https://3d.nih.gov/collections/3d-pollen-library
