I went to the new city centre experience where you can step inside a 'bee hive'

Being a big fan of bees, I was excited when the World Museum in Liverpool announced it was replacing its Return of the Gods exhibit with one about our favourite flower hoppers.

Bees: A Story Of Survival opened on May 5 on the second floor of the building and is a unique partnership, the World Museum, Liverpool and the award-winning artist and sculptor Wolfgang Buttress. Walking through the entrance, you are immediately plunged into another world... into a hive.

The dark wood and moody lighting are accentuated by an atmospheric soundtrack by Buttress himself that underpins the entire exhibit. Beautifully illustrated touchscreens detail everything from the exoskeleton of a bee to the 30,000 species and where they are found around the world.

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Learn the key details from the life cycle of a bee to the roles each of the insects has to play in the hive. But this exhibit is so much more than just facts and numbers, it really is as promised; a fusion of art, science and technology.

Once through the screen curtains, it is more of an experience than just an exhibit. Stunning transparent blocks showcase the shadows of meadow flowers symbolising the loss of biodiverse habitats for our bee friends (a 97% loss of wildflower meadows since the 1930s).

Then there are the hive walls, helping you see from the perspective of a bee, what it is like to be a fellow "sentinel of the earth" as your worker-bee colleagues move behind the honeycomb walls to protect and preserve, just as we should be doing from the outside. A great deal of thought and precise detailing has gone into putting visitors right into the flight path of these integral insects.

Watch the flower meadow appear from the perspective of a flying bee all while the soundscape around you creates a clever sensory experience that is both hopeful and devastating as you move through to the reality that without these bees our world becomes impossible.

There is also a hexagonal-shaped room dedicated to visuals of some of the different types of pollen that look abstract and beautiful magnified and swirling. Then there is the swarm, which is brought to life with ticks of the light and sound.

This is an intelligent, immersive, art-inspired exhibit and as a regular visitor, it is one of my favourites. I went with my teenage son, who said he enjoyed it and learnt about the flesh-eating vulture bee.

I have a four-year-old who wasn't with us on this occasion, but I think young children will enjoy some of the sensory aspects, although I am glad I was able to soak it all in the first time around and look forward to taking my youngest on my second visit. It can be quite dark in the hive at times, which isn't a criticism, it needs to be dark to add to the atmosphere, but I would advise you take care with your footing.

While it is free to enter the museum, the Bees: A Story Of Survival exhibition costs £12 per adult, £5 for children aged between 12 and 17 and under 12s are free. It will run for a whole year until May 2025 and you can book tickets and learn more about it here.

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