THE BEES by Laline Paull, published in 2015 through Harper Collins Publishing. This book is about bees, but more importantly a mutant in the bee world, Flora 717. It has been likened to a dystopian society, in the bee form. Now as an apiarist I had to suspend belief, there are certain liberties and things that just cannot happen in the real bee world, besides the obvious bees chanting prayers, tablets of predictions. Our hero or mutant is inquisitive breaking boundries established in the bee realm, doing many jobs such as cleaner, baby sitter, forager and egg layer. She is in cahoots with a drone and pretty much does whatever she pleases, saying it is for the good of the hive, but is it really.
At my book club, I explained that there were many truths in the story, there are bees that have specific jobs, not as specific as those indicated in the book. There are foragers, queens attendants, drones, protectors and maintenance hive bees. I have seen bees carry out the dead bees, especially on a warm day in winter. I have been attacked by the sentry , whose job is to get me away from the hive. I have watched bees who have gotten lost from the hive die. The bees do have the problems discussed in the book: pesticides, brood disease, attacks by mites, moths and other bees.
In other words this is a book that brings to attention the problems we face with our bee culture and its demise. It is a book about societies clinging to false notions and not moving forward with the times. There are also biases against those that are different and how to overcome the barriers placed in our way.
Not a bad book. Please be careful in your gardens and try not to use pesticides, it is okay to have spots.
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