Queen’s Park Beehive Webcam – See Ontario’s Rooftop Bees

The Queen’s Park Beehive Webcam is a close-up camera trained on the entrance of a honeybee hive on the roof of the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto. The frame is filled by the hive’s wooden front and landing board, with worker bees crowding the entrance, walking across the boards and launching out toward the city. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario installed the hives in May 2026. On a warm afternoon the entrance is thick with traffic, bees jostling at the opening and returning foragers dropping onto the board. On cool or wet days the same boards can be almost empty. A date and time stamp runs across the top corner of the stream, which makes it easy to tell how fresh the picture is.

About the Queen’s Park Beehives

Beehives officially arrived on the roof of the Legislative Building in May 2026. The Legislative Assembly says the bees are there to support urban biodiversity, pollinate local plants and trees, and produce honey. Speaker Donna Skelly, the 43rd Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the first woman to hold the office, was the driving force behind the project, and the Assembly labels its hive stream in both English and French.

The building under the hives is a landmark in its own right. Designed by Richard A. Waite in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the Ontario Legislative Building went up from 1886 and was officially opened on 4 April 1893. It is clad in Ontario sandstone from the Credit River valley and Orangeville, a stone with a pink hue that earned it the nickname the Pink Palace, and its 10.5 million bricks were made by inmates of the old Central Prison.

Queen’s Park itself was opened in 1860 by Edward, Prince of Wales, and named for Queen Victoria. The land was leased from the University of Toronto on a 999-year term, and the university’s St. George campus still wraps around most of the park. For bees, that means a rare patch of green in the core: the Queen Elizabeth II rose gardens, first planted in 1977, a White Trillium Garden, a native species garden with eastern white cedars and hackberries, and three Japanese cherry trees given by the Japanese Consulate in 2005 all sit on the grounds below the roof.

Weather and Climate at Queen’s Park

Downtown Toronto sits in a pocket of humid continental climate at the western end of Lake Ontario, with an annual average temperature above 9 C (48 F). The city’s downtown weather station is at Trinity College on the University of Toronto campus, next to Queen’s Park. January highs and lows average between minus 1 and minus 7 C (30 and 19 F), and the downtown station records about 121.5 cm (47.8 inches) of snow a season. Honeybees do not hibernate. In cold weather they stay inside and cluster together for warmth, so on the Queen’s Park Beehive Webcam the landing board can stay quiet through the depth of winter, with only a few bees venturing out on milder days.

Summer highs typically run from 24 to 32 C (75 to 90 F), with humid nights close to 20 C (68 F). Spring and summer are the busiest months at the hive entrance, as trees and gardens around the park come into flower. Spring can be cooler than usual right by the lake on onshore winds, and snow has been recorded in Toronto as late as May 28 and as early as October 1. Precipitation averages 831 mm (32.7 inches) a year, spread across every month, with summer rain arriving mostly in thunderstorms.

Things to Do Near Queen’s Park

The Legislative Assembly runs guided tours of the building, bookable through its website, and the grounds hold more than 30 statues, monuments and plaques. The park also has a statue of the poet Al Purdy, unveiled in 2008, and just west of it stands the Canadian Volunteer Monument, unveiled in 1870 and the second oldest monument in Toronto. The northern half of the park is laid out in paths radiating from an equestrian statue of Edward VII.

Just north of the park on Bloor Street West, the Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada. It opened in 1914 and holds the world’s largest collection of Burgess Shale fossils, more than 150,000 specimens, behind the angular Michael Lee-Chin Crystal entrance designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in 2007. Philosopher’s Walk runs past the museum’s west side into the University of Toronto campus, where the older college buildings are an easy stroll from the legislature.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Queen’s Park Beehive Webcam located?

The hive is on the roof of the Ontario Legislative Building in Queen’s Park, downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building sits at the head of University Avenue, surrounded by the University of Toronto’s St. George campus.

What can you see on the Queen’s Park Beehive Webcam?

A close-up of the hive entrance: the wooden front of the hive, the landing board and the worker bees coming and going. The camera does not show the city skyline or the building itself.

What is the weather like at Queen’s Park in Toronto?

January averages between minus 1 and minus 7 C (30 and 19 F) with about 121.5 cm (47.8 inches) of snow a season downtown. Summer highs run from 24 to 32 C (75 to 90 F), with humid nights.

When did the beehives arrive at the Ontario Legislature?

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario announced that the beehives had arrived on the roof of the Legislative Building in May 2026.

Why are there beehives on the Ontario Legislative Building?

The Assembly says the bees support urban biodiversity, pollinate local plants and trees, and produce honey. Speaker Donna Skelly led the initiative.

Why are the bees on the webcam not moving in winter?

Honeybees spend cold weather inside the hive, clustered together to keep warm, and only fly on milder days. An empty landing board in winter is normal colony behavior, not a sign the hive has failed.

Can you visit the Ontario Legislative Building?

Yes. The Legislative Assembly offers guided tours that can be booked on its website, and the grounds of Queen’s Park are open to the public.

Source: Legislative Assembly of Ontario