AN ARTIST is causing a buzz on Teesside as she plans to recreate famous concrete buildings as beehives.

Cath Keay, an artist from Newcastle, is building hive-sized replicas of Steel House, Redcar, Kennedy Gardens Flats, Billingham, and the old Dunning Road police station, Middlesbrough.

The idea came during a tour of Dundas House in Middlesbrough by Rednile Projects and she was asked to submit an artistic idea based on architecture from the area.

“I’m reappraising buildings which are actually quite beautifully designed but because they are made in concrete people don’t like them. When they’re made into beehives it gives these things a fresh appeal and lets their natural beauty shine through.”

She will begin building the hives in the next few days and hopes to have them finished by early summer. They will then be exhibited in a local gallery before bees are put inside and they are handed over to groups in Middlesbrough to keep.

Three artists from Navigate North are training as beekeepers with the Cleveland Beekeepers Association and will take one hive. It is hoped the other two will be given to a school and to some allotment holders.

Rob Andrews, chairman of the Cleveland Beekeepers Association, said: “The more beehives and beekeepers we can get the better."

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