We could adopt bees as symbol of our city

Does Bath have an animal as symbolic of the city?

After the terrible bombing at the Ariana Grande concert, the worker bee symbol Manchester adopted many years earlier, became a symbol of the city. The imagery it conjures is of the workers of Manchester busily entering the mills of the Victorian era.

Where bees are concerned many of us have heard of Colony Collapse Disorder which could, at worst, threaten pollination required for agriculture.

The cause is not yet understood and, while a factor may be something humans are doing to the environment, it has been a known phenomena for a long time.

Thinking of this I thought about the role outside of agriculture and honey production that solitary bees engage in.

They certainly have a role in our gardens and most people find them harmless and not at all scary. Perhaps in Bath we could adopt

solitary or bumble bees as our symbolic animal.

We have little in the way of factories in Bath but from the Bath Life awards it is clear many people work hard to keep the overall economy going, many working alone initially or in a partnership, so the solitary bees are quite symbolic.

I have an insect house in my garden (see inset)and I was surprised how many of the little holes of hollow bamboo were filled in the first summer by the local individualistic insects.

I thought it would be a good idea to encourage everyone in the city to put up an insect house on a sunny wall of their house or garden.

Then maybe the whole city will be buzzing next summer as businesses recover, sporting success continues and the bees find places for their young to develop.

Nick Hales

Bath