Bee In The City.

Manchester’s emblem bee inspired the 2018 ‘Bee in the City’ trail – one of the largest public art events the city has ever seen! A colony of 100 sculpture bees were brightly decorated by local artists and community groups to celebrate Manchester, from its industrial heritage to its vibrant music scene, before being erected around the city center and surrounding suburbs at landmarks and cultural hotspots. 131 little bees, decorated by schoolchildren as part of Bee in the City’s Learning Programme, were also incorporated into the trail.

“I hope people don’t only discover this wonderful art on the streets, but they also discover its location; maybe stop and have a picnic in Cathedral Gardens, or stop for some pasta and a glass of wine in Spinningfields. That’s what this is about; bringing people together to rediscover their city,”

– Director, Sally-Ann Wilkinson when asked about the aim of the project.

As the commissioned artists and community groups were busy decorating their bees, thoughts turned to the logistics of their installation. Structures Group attended a council meeting in partnership with our supply chain partner, Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd, regarding these logistics, and a number of problems were raised. Arguably, the main concern was the safety of bees out in the public over a number of months.

Structures Group provided the installation/safety solution. We proposed a railing type design, comprised of six steel eye bolts, running chain through, creating exhibit balustrades. Once the design was approved, we set to work making all 100 of them.

Structures Group resin anchored each bee to a large concrete plinth, erected the exhibit balustrade, and helped to install the bees in their various locations around the city in the still of the night, where the bees waited until sunrise to be discovered.

The bees certainly caused the buzz they intended to! When the trail ended, 77 of the bee sculptures were sold at a charity auction, raising over £1M for charity ‘We Love MCR’. The remaining 23 remained in Manchester in their trail locations or nearby.