Manchester Bees Mural

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 28 Nov 2017

This striking image showing 22 worker bees is the latest tribute to those killed in the Manchester Arena bombing of 22 May 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Arena_bombing . The bee was first adopted as a motif for Manchester during the industrial revolution, and seven bees are included in the crest of the city’s arms, which were granted to the Borough of Manchester in 1842. At the time the bee represented the hard work of Mancunians and the textile mills that were commonly described as hives of activity, with the workers inside them compared to bees. But following the horrific terrorist attack, it has come to represent Manchester’s “defiant spirit”. The mural, painted on the gable end wall of the Koffee Pot café on Oldham Street, is the work of artist Russell Meeham, also known as ‘Qubek’. It was commissioned by the Manchester Evening News. Each bee, pictured swarming around a honey heart, represents one of the 22 innocent people killed in the horrific attack. This MEN article http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/gallery/manchester-bees-mural-amazing-mancunian-13137136 includes photographs of the mural being painted onto the wall.

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