BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A new exhibit at\u00a0a downtown Bakersfield museum\u00a0will\u00a0soon be buzzing\u00a0\u2013 with\u00a0more than just residents\u00a0coming to see the new displays.<\/p>\n
The Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science will be opening its new exhibit\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u201cBee-utiful\u00a0Bees\u201d\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Saturday, aiming to educate the public on the importance of bees.<\/p>\n
Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFrom exploring bee biology to showcasing the remarkable diversity of native species in Bakersfield,\u00a0Bee-utiful\u00a0Bees\u00a0invites visitors to encounter bees up close and see them in a whole new light,\u201d Scott Peat, a Professor of Biology at Bakersfield College, said in the exhibit\u2019s press release.\u00a0\u201cThrough striking imagery that reveals the unexpected beauty of native bees and engaging, kid-friendly interactive displays, the exhibit highlights the indispensable role native bees play in sustaining healthy ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n According to California\u2019s\u00a0Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/a>, bees \u2013 or pollinators \u2013 help with plant reproduction by moving pollen between flowers, playing a\u00a0key\u00a0role in biodiversity.\u00a0Although several bee species have been added to California\u2019s list of\u00a0state and federally endangered and threatened animals,<\/a>\u00a0about 80% of flower plants need pollinators to survive.<\/p>\n Koral\u00a0Hancharick, executive director of the museum,\u00a0said the exhibit will show\u00a0a\u00a0variety\u00a0of bee\u00a0species, ranging from larger, fuzzy bees to species that are smaller than a grain of rice.\u00a0All\u00a0the bees displayed will be local to Bakersfield and Kern County.<\/p>\n Hancharick\u00a0said the exhibit will be interactive where visitors will be able to use a net to \u201ccatch\u201d different bees and learn about\u00a0different species. The display\u00a0will also have videos of different bees pollinating flowers playing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you see the bees blown\u00a0up,\u00a0you can see how beautiful they are,\u201d\u00a0Hancharick\u00a0said. \u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re just really excited about it, because bees are so important to our community, and every aspect of\u00a0growth, farming and anything growing in plants requires bees to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n After seeing the exhibit,\u00a0Hancharick\u00a0said she hopes\u00a0visitors\u00a0have a new understanding of bees and their role in California\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that they learn that bees are important here to us, and that they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0just go out and kill them, because everybody always thinks, \u2018Oh, a bee, it\u2019s\u00a0gonna\u00a0sting me, let\u2019s kill it,\u2019\u201d she said. \u00a0\u201cIf at all possible, we should just kind of move away from\u00a0it and\u00a0just move away from the bee\u00a0and let it do its\u00a0pollinating and what it needs to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Feral honeybees are threatening other Southern Californian pollinators: Study <\/a><\/p>\n She said the exhibition is also part of the\u00a0museum\u2019s\u00a0goal to make science fun.<\/p>\n New exhibits \u201cmake science fun, which leads to career building, because they might choose a career that they might not have if they hadn\u2019t been exposed to a fun factor that goes along with that career,\u201d\u00a0Hancharick\u00a0said.<\/p>\n The \u201cBee-utiful\u00a0Bees\u201d exhibit will be on display for about one year, starting on Saturday, April 11, when it formally opens after a\u00a0soft launch\u00a0in late March.<\/p>\n The museum will be hosting a kick-off event for the exhibit, on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n More information about the event can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n