The hilarious and heartwarming quotes of Hull’s beloved Bee Lady
DOWN-TO-EARTH JEAN HAD AN EVENTFUL LIFE BUT SHE TOOK IT ALL IN HER STRIDE ...
WHILE Jean Bishop will be forever remembered for her remarkable fundraising exploits as the Bee Lady, many were left dazzled by her rapier-like wit.
Jean passed away peacefully on October 3, aged 99, and tributes have been pouring in for one of the city’s most recognised characters.
The city fell in love with Jean who could be seen dressed up in her bee costume in all areas of the city rattling her charity box as she raised an astonishing £124,000 for Age UK.
Despite all the accolades, fame and praise, Jean always had her feet on the ground.
She met hero Bradley Walsh while appearing on Tonight At
The London Palladium, dined with the Queen, was handed the Freedom of the City and has been honoured with a British Empire Medal.
We take a look back at some of the funny, humble and heartwarming quotes from Jean over the past few years.
Olympic star
In 2012, it was revealed that Jean had been chosen to run with the Olympic Torch prior to the London Games.
Jean said: “I could not believe it at first when I was told.
“I keep having my doubts though because I have arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis on my knees and I don’t walk long distances.
“But I have been practising. It’s not the Olympic run for me, it will be the Olympic crawl.”
And afterwards she said: “It was overwhelming. There were people who I had not seen for ages in the crowd.
“At one point the lady behind me said to lift my torch a bit higher, so I didn’t set fire to my hair.
“Then I started to do a bit of a royal wave as it was easier than lifting my hand up high.”
Crime doesn’t pay
While pushing to reach the £100,000 fundraising mark, Jean admitted a life of crime was not an option.
She said: “I still enjoy doing it. I’ve made so many friends.
“I can’t go anywhere without being stopped. I certainly couldn’t go and rob a bank. I’d be caught straight away.”
Unrecognisable
Jean describes the difficulty people have in recognising her in her normal clothes.
She said: “I was at a bus stop once,” says Jean, cackling. “Someone shouted, ‘It’s you. The Bee Lady! I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on. Well, I did feel embarrassed!”
Turf wars
Jean was surprised with her Pride of Britain Award by David Walliams but celebrity status doesn’t wash with Jean.
She said: “I think Mr Walliams would make a good bee, although he is quite a bit taller than me.
“He wouldn’t be allowed to steal my patch in Hull though.”
She also made a bold request, saying: “Can I take you home,” she said to David. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Pride of Hull
After collecting her award, she said to host Carol Vorderman: “I’d like to live in the bee costume. I hide behind the costume because I can say what I like in it.”
All-action Jean
A black and yellow phone box was unveiled by KCOM in Jean’s honour, initially in Carr Lane but then it was moved to Wheldale Avenue in east Hull in 2018.
After cutting the ribbon, Jean said: “I would love to switch on the Christmas lights and I’d love to do a zipwire across the top floor of the Princes Quay Shopping Centre.
“We were going to do it once
years ago, but then health and safety didn’t like it.
“My family have joked I should be on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, too. If it wasn’t for my arthritis, I would love to get out and about and do some more things.”
Ever determined
Jean’s determination shone through when she had to take it easy due to her arthritis in December 2015.
She said: “People have been coming up to me saying, ‘Where have you been? We’ve missed you.’
“The problem is that my body isn’t telling me what it should me telling me. I would like to go a lot faster, but I am getting older and my arthritis has been giving me problems. I tend to get quite stiff in my limbs. But I’ll be back soon. I don’t give up.”
Meeting her hero
When appearing on Tonight At The London Palladium in 2017, Jean finally met her dream television star Bradley Walsh while watching the performance from her own private box for her 95th birthday.
Walsh climbed up into the box with a bunch of flowers to celebrate her birthday.
He asked Jean how she was doing. She replied: “All the better for seeing you. You’ve made my day.”
A Royal appointment
When it was announced the Queen would be heading to Hull, Jean was asked about it and recalled the time she met Her Majesty.
She said: “I met the Queen a long time ago. About a dozen of us went to the palace to talk about our charity work and we all got in line to meet her. The first thing she said to me was, ‘where is your outfit?’”
“I couldn’t believe she knew I was the Bee Lady. She is a really lovely woman, and surprisingly little.”
Where’s my chip butty?
When the Queen did visit, Jean was invited to a special lunch attended by Her Majesty and she was suitably down to earth.
She said: “Everything was that fancy, I couldn’t put a name to it.
“It was lovely. There was only little bits in the middle of the plate, but I don’t know all these fancy names. I ate them all. It was lovely.
“I love a chip butty, but there wasn’t one.”
Left speechless
Jean was only the second woman ever to be given the Freedom of the City in November 2017.
After the ceremony she said: “Well, I never expected all of this. I thought I‘d turn up and they’d give me a scroll and say, ‘ta-ra then,’ but they didn’t.
“All those people. It was the first time in my life that I’ve been speechless.”
Finally recognised
Finally, Jean was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2018 when she was handed a
British Empire Medal.
But rather than talk about herself, she praised Hull, saying: “I think Hull has really bucked up a lot. We’ve had lots of visitors who’ve all come and said what a grand place we have and it’s rare that you hear of anyone grumbling about Hull these days.
“From seeing it years and years ago, it’s altered a lot, for the better.”