AUBURN, Neb. (KOLN) - Painted honeybees crawl across a new mural in Auburn, Nebraska. The project is a part of the artist’s mission to paint 50,000 honeybees worldwide.

Matt Willey calls his initiative “The Good of the Hive.”

“It was inspired in 2008 when I met a little bee on the floor of my studio,” said Matt Willey, the muralist. “And I just had this connection with her - this thing that had been basically a flying stinger my whole life had a cuteness suddenly.”

This single honeybee sparked a global artistic movement. Willey created the goal of painting 50,000 honeybees and pollinators. It’s a symbolic number that represents the average population of a healthy, thriving hive.

This is the second project Willey has worked on in the Cornhusker State. Previously, he painted honeybees on

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