The Ultimate Guide To The Bumble Bee Door Knocker
The bumble bee door knocker has become one of our most popular products, with them flying off to live on front doors across the UK, as well as European destinations, USA, Australia and even homes in Malaysia! With their charming and characterful design, the bee door knocker is the perfect way to create a buzz around your front door. In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about the bee door knocker, from its meaning and symbolism, through to celebrity owners and how it's made.
What does the bee door knocker represent?
The bumble bee has become a symbol for warmth, friendship, community spirit, positivity and hospitality. A bee door knocker is the personification of this symbolism that you can display on the entrance to your home, greeting guests with charm and character.
The symbol of Manchester
The humble bumble bee holds a special place in many Mancunians hearts, after all, the worker bee is one of the best-know symbols of the city of Manchester. The bee emblem represents the hard working ethic of cities residents, as well as Manchester being a hive of activity in the area.
Originally adopted over 150 years ago when Manchester was awash with textile mills, which were often referred to as 'hives of activity' and the workers inside them compared to busy bees, the bee was adopted by the city as the official emblem.
The bumble bee symbol has risen to prominence in recent years, with it becoming a sign of Mancunian pride and unity across communities. You'll see the famous bee symbol on iron-works, street art and council notices across the city centre. The bumble bee door knocker has become the perfect addition to any suburban Manchester door, enabling residents to showcase pride in their city on their own home and supporting unity across their communities. The Manchester bee door knocker is the perfect way to greet your guests!
Celebrities with bee door knockers
The bee door knocker has become a popular addition to many celebrities front doors, adding character and charm to their homes, as well as being something unique to photograph and post across their social media.
Mrs Hinch first fitted a chrome bee door knocker to her PVCu front door in 2018, with the chrome finish complimenting her door furniture perfectly. Since fitting the bee door knocker, Mrs Hinch has posted cleaning tips on her Instagram and often showcases her door knocker in reels and images posted.
'I absolutely love it. You have fabulous taste!'
Social media influencers with bee door knockers
It's not just celebrities that have taken a liking to the bee door knocker; across Instagram there are thousands of users who have posted photographs of their bumble bee door knockers.
Carys Champman is a Scottish based influencer who focuses on posting content about her family, home interior and lifestyle. Carys purchased a Coates & Warner chrome bee door knocker in 2018 and transformed her front door by teaming it with a matching chrome door furniture and painting her bee-autiful double opening door in Farrow & Ball Plummett. Carys regularly posts photos of her bee door knocker on her feed, head over and follow her @ccaryschampman!
Another well known home interior influencer is Jenny Sheahan, who added a Coates & Warner solid brass bee door knocker to her Irish cottage's front door in 2019. Jenny has transformed her city cottage in Dublin into a stunning home and regularly posts photographs of her bee! Follow Jenny on her Instagram profile @workerscottage.
Credit: @workerscottage
What finishes are the bee door knockers available in?
The bumble bee door knocker is available in four finishes, with a colour to suit every door design and a colour that will compliment the most common door furniture materials. The bee door knocker is available in the following finishes:
The brass bee door knocker is the original finish and remains ever popular due to the likeness to the yellow of a bumble bee. The brass is of high shine and looks golden in the sunshine. The brass finish is unlaquered meaning that it will take on an antique appearance over time, unless regularly polished.
The chrome bee door knocker finish has a silver colouring with a high shine, whilst the nickel finish has a slightly less shiny, golden silver colouring. Both look fantastic when matched with similar finished door furniture.
What types of door can the bee door knocker be fitted to?
Our bee door knockers are suitable for use on any traditional wooden, uPVC or composite door. Sadly, the bee door knocker can not be fitted to all types of metal doors, it can only be fitted to metal doors that feature a solid infill. This type of metal door is not hollow and has a solid filling that the screw fixing can grip in to, to hold the door knocker in position. Matching screws for each finish of door knocker are provided and once fitted to a door no fixings are visible. We do however recommend that you check with the manufacturer of the door, as fitting a door knocker may void the warranty.
How do you install a bee door knocker?
To install a bee door knocker onto your door simply follow the below steps:
- Place the bee door knocker onto the door where you wish to position it, ensure it is level and at the correct height.
- Once in position, with a pencil, mark a dot on the door through each of the screw holes so that you have a visual marking on the door of where the knocker will be fixed. Ensure the pencil marks are visible on the door once the bee has been taken away.
- Using a 1-2mm drill bit, drill small guide holes where you have marked on the door. Be careful not to drill the holes all the way through the door, the guide holes should only go half way into the thickness of the door.
- Place the bee door knocker into your chosen position on the door and align the screw holes with the guide holes you've drilled.
- Using the screws provided, screw the door knocker into the door. Ensure that the screws are tight and the door knocker is securely attached before letting go!
- Now, step back and admire your new door knocker!
For more information on how to fit a door knocker, take a look at our full step-by-step fitting guide.
How is the bee door knocker made?
Our bee door knocker is lovingly made in a small, independent foundry in the United Kingdom. We are proud to support British makers and other independent businesses like ours. Each door knocker is created using traditional manufacturing techniques that include being cast from solid metal and hand assembly. The manufacturing process is performed by a number of skilled experts who follow the below process to craft the bee door knocker:
- Brass is added into a crucible and then placed into a furnace until it has become molten, during this process all impurities of the metal are removed.
- The molten brass is poured into two bee shaped moulds, with one mould creating the body of the bee with its etched detailing, and the other half creating the wings and striking plate.
- Once the brass has cooled and formed a solid object, each half is removed from their moulds and dusted down to remove any sand or residue left over from the casting process.
- Each half of the door knocker is then sanded with an abrasive paper, to remove any markings that are unwanted, resulting from the casting process.
- If the bee door knocker is to remain as the brass finish, it is then polished using a bench polisher with a soft polishing buff wheel and a suitable brass polish until it has a high shine finish. If the bee door knocker is to become a chrome or nickel finish, each half is electro-plated with the correct finish by dipping it into a vat of high quality chrome or nickel. Following this process, it is hung to set before then being polished with a suitable metal polish on a polishing buff wheel.
- Following the polishing process, the two halves of the door knocker are joined together by hand with a hinge. The hinge enables the bee body to be struck against the winged striking plate, create a knocking sound.
- Once the bee door knocker is fully assembled, it is then wrapped in protective packaging and packed with matching screws in a sealed bag. Ready to be dispatched to its new home!
Why choose a Coates & Warner bee door knocker?
All of our door knockers are lovingly made in an independent foundry in the United Kingdom. We are proud to support British makers and your purchases helps to provide small independent business and craftspeople a fair wage for their skilled practices. At Coates & Warner we are pleased to offer the original bee door knocker design.
Every bee is sold with all fixings included and where possible, we attempt to reduce plastic in our delivery packaging by utilising sustainable materials such as cardboard bubble wrap, unbleached cardboard boxes and brown paper packaging tape. For more information on how we're becoming a sustainable business, take a look at our guide to sustainability.
Our brass, chrome and nickel bee door knockers are all available with free standard mainland UK delivery, whilst the black bee door knocker is available with delivery from £3.99. All customers are able to upgrade to next day delivery should they wish to. We also ship our bee door knockers worldwide!
By purchasing a bee door knocker from Coates & Warner, you are supporting a small, independent, family run business based near York, United Kingdom. We pride ourselves on offering exceptional customer service and are rated 5 star both on Reviews.io and Trustpilot.
Do you have a bee door knocker related question?
If you have any further questions about the bumble bee door knocker, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Discover Our Door Knockers
