{"id":149448,"date":"2025-06-01T12:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T12:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149448\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T12:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T12:37:14","slug":"does-manchester-use-the-bee-too-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149448\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Manchester use the bee too much?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A symbol of the city for 150 years, Manchester rallied around the bee in the wake of the 2017 Arena attack – but new research suggests bombing survivors are ‘uncomfortable’ with how widespread the bee is. Ethan Davies reports.Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham shows off his Manchester worker bee tattoo on the fifth anniversary of the bombing, competing the Great Manchester Run for charity(Image: PA )<\/p>\n

The bee is everywhere in Manchester.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s on the buses, trams, and bicycles. It\u2019s on the Kimpton Hotel clock tower. It\u2019s on the bins.<\/p>\n

Souvenir shops are packed with all manner of mementos adorned with the stripey insect. Cafes, bars, and restaurants often feature a mural of a bee.<\/p>\n

Although the worker bee has been a feature of the city for more than 150 years, symbolising the co-operative spirit that powered Cottonopolis, its use notably rose after the 2017 Manchester Arena<\/a> bombing.<\/p>\n

In the face of unimaginable tragedy, a city united around the bee as it took on new meanings of unity, resilience, and forgiveness. Thousands of people, including mayor Andy Burnham<\/a> who later named our public transport network after it, were tattooed with the Manchester bee to ultimately raise more than \u00a3500,000 for the families of the attack’s 22 victims.<\/p>\n

Only three days after the attack, Manchester council moved to trademark its bee logo. It now charges \u00a3500 to use it, but this money is donated to the We Love Mcr charity.<\/p>\n

(Image: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd)<\/p>\n

Do you think Manchester uses the bee to much? Have your say in our poll below<\/strong><\/p>\n

Countless non-trademarked versions have also popped up, driving the bee\u2019s ubiquity only higher.<\/p>\n

But new research suggests the bee\u2019s popularity and \u2018commercialisation\u2019 now makes survivors of the Arena bombing \u2018uncomfortable\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ashley Collar, a University of Manchester<\/a> sociology PhD candidate originally from Moss Side<\/a>, has been researching the societal effects the 2017 attack had on the city for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bee symbol was something of comfort\u2026 [now it\u2019s] on every odd shop. Over the past few years, it has become a bigger thing,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had conversations with my 24 participants on how the symbol has become commercialised. Survivors in particular felt discomfort in the way it changed over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley has shared anonymous snippets of her interviews with survivors with the Manchester Evening News.<\/p>\n

One said: \u201cThere\u2019s been no thought for us, do you really think we wanna see that symbol everywhere we turn? Like a reminder of that night. It doesn\u2019t help it makes us feel like f***ing s**t.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Another told her: \u201cHow tone deaf are they? You see people using that symbol against terrorism and you think plastering it everywhere is gonna make people feel like they will want to be in the city? I\u2019m not being funny but is our trauma invisible to them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley\u2019s research broadly found \u2018younger generations were a bit more unsure about\u2019 the bee\u2019s popularity across the city, but \u2018older generations may be prouder of what\u2019 it represents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel at ease knowing we haven\u2019t forgotten them, that they\u2019ll forever be part of the city, even if they are on our buses, trams and other trivial items,\u201d said one research interviewee. \u201cIt\u2019s just what we do, we don\u2019t forget about our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another participant, spoken to in 2023, said: \u201cI felt the need to really express the identity by collecting everything bee, which has carried on for six years now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still if I see something bee, I want it. There was a reason behind the identity rather than it just being an identity, it set the roots. And I’m like,\u2019no, this is who I am and I am really proud and I now know why\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cThe iconic bee has been the symbol of Manchester\u2019s industriousness for more than 150 years and latterly evolved to become the mark of unity that brought the city together following the 2017 arena attack.<\/p>\n

“Immediately following the attack, due to a large number of requests to use the bee logo in solidarity, the council made available the official bee free of charge to those who wanted to show their pride and connection to Manchester.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe move to trademark some iterations of the bee was made to safeguard against its misuse and to protect it from commercial exploitation – and to make sure that any royalties generated by its appropriate use could be shared with local charities to create a lasting benefit.<\/p>\n

“The trademark has never been about monetising the bee or creating a revenue for the council. It has always been about sensitively protecting an important symbol in the city’s history. And to date, more than \u00a3150,000 has been generated for local charities, including the homeless charity Real Change and the We Love MCR Charity.”<\/p>\n

With it being a firm fixture on so much of the city\u2019s fabric \u2014 the aforementioned clock tower, bins, and buses to name a few \u2014 it does not look like the bee is flying off anytime soon. But with the night of May 22, 2017, living so vividly in Mancs\u2019 memories, it also doesn\u2019t appear that \u2018discomfort\u2019 will shift either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A symbol of the city for 150 years, Manchester rallied around the bee in the wake of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[21149,748,393,4884,8829,2465,14214,8086,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-149448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-ao-arena","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-m-e-n-explore","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-manchester-arena","15":"tag-manchester-city-centre","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114608147299187094","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}