The Manchester Bee

Manchester's emblem is the bee, and this industrial city is justifiably proud of its connection to the diligent insect. Early municipal leaders had to choose a coat of arms in 1842 that would convey our identity to the globe. The bee of Manchester is a worker bee, representing a city that was built by its citizens and not because of royal favoritism or readily available natural resources. Mancunians have put a lot of effort into making this town prosper. Following a terrorist assault that happened at a concert at the Manchester Arena in 2017, it also came to represent unification in the city.

Manchester claimed the bee is a hardworking tiny worker, a little individual but a superorganism as a whole. Together became more powerful. Bees are also fascinating and breathtakingly beautiful. Look out for the active worker bees are prominently shown on the coat of arms on the façade of Manchester Town Hall, which is undergoing a significant renovation to carefully restore it to its 1868 splendor. The structure features several allusions to cotton and the city of Manchester's honey-like cotton industry is what gave the city its wealth.

Spring Gardens, Hotel Gotham, and Zizzi in King Street all have bees, and you can observe a beautiful traditional beehive in the window of Zizzi while strolling by. In Ancoats, there is a Beehive Mill, and across from the Royal Exchange in St. Ann's Square, there are enormous 1980s bee sculptures. Explore the clock face where bees indicate the quarter hours by strolling down to the Kimpton Clocktower on Oxford Road and looking high up. The coat of arms of the historic and contemporary University of Manchester likewise features three sizable bee motifs.