The action packed life of bees

My rating:  5 out of 5     

A novel about life in a beehive, as seen through the eyes of a bee.  This is a great story and a fascinating, and action packed, insight into the world of bees.

Though having no more than a passing interest in bees, this novel caught my eye.  The main “character” in the book is Flora 717, who  is born as a lowly sanitation worker bee.  Through Flora 717 the reader is taken into every aspect of bee life, including the hierarchy, the absolute adherence to the rules of the hive and of course the role of the Queen.  Threats to the hive and its occupants are graphically drawn, including human threats, as is the joy of finding pollen and nectar full flowers, and what happens when the bees take it back to the hive.

It took me ages to finish this book, as I kept stopping to check out the action (of which there is a great deal) on the internet.   Everything I checked was based on fact!  Obviously the author has used her imagination to depict Flora 717’s thoughts and life, but by her clever interweaving of facts about bees and her storytelling this book is both gripping and informative.

Wow, I recommend this book to everyone who has ever watched a bee gather pollen, and wants to learn, via a novel rather than a non-fiction source,  more about what happens next.

See also my review of The Ice by Laline Paull