The Bees by Laline Paull tells the story of Flora 717, a low-level sanitation bee who refuses to be categorized or limited by the circumstances of her birth. Flora finds she has extraordinary abilities and is able to take on tasks usually reserved for higher status bees, like the ability to produce “flow” (the substance that feeds the youngest bees in the nursery) and wax to build the structure of the hive. Eventually, Flora discovers she has an even more amazing and forbidden ability which she embraces, although it puts her life in grave danger from the hive police and from the evil Sage priestesses.
The hive not only has a strict social hierarchy, but all kinds of intrigue and machinations are underway – various factions jockey for status and power as rumors about the queen’s health begin to swirl through the hive. The struggle for survival through the long winter is fascinating as are the various intense battles against rodent and wasp intruders, and the flights of the foragers into the danger and beauty of the fields, forests, and towns. The Bees is a thrilling and unusual page-turner that opens up a new world within our world.
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