The Bees: A Novel

By Laline Paull

Born into the lowest class of an ancient hierarchical society, Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, an Untouchable, whose labour is at her ancient orchard hive's command. As part of the collective, she is taught to accept, obey and serve. Altruism is the highest virtue, and worship of her beloved Queen, the only religion. Her society is governed by the priestess class, questions are forbidden and all thoughts belong to the Hive Mind.

But Flora is not like other bees. Her curiosity is a dangerous flaw, especially once she is exposed to the mysteries of the Queen's Library. But her courage and strength are assets, and Flora finds herself promoted up the social echelons. From sanitation to feeding the newborns in the royal nursery to becoming an elite forager, Flora revels in service to her hive.

When Flora breaks the most sacred law of all—daring to challenge the Queen's fertility—enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses who are jealously wed to power. Her deepest instinct to serve and sacrifice is now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart and her society, and lead her to commit unthinkable deeds . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443433600

Laline Paull

Laline Paull was born in England. Her parents were first-generation Indian immigrants. She studied English at Oxford, screenwriting in Los Angeles, and theatre in London, where she has had two plays performed at the Royal National Theatre. She is a member of BAFTA and the Writers’ Guild of America. She lives in England by the sea with her husband, the photographer Adrian Peacock, and their three children. ‘The Bees’ received wide critical praise and was chosen as an Amazon Rising Star.

Reviews for The Bees

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Flora 717 is an anthropomorphized bee; an odd-bee-out in the hive's restrictive society who can work sanitation, gather pollen, and attend the queen while facing many dangers within and without. It's a playful, weird and sweet story.

[marjorie.mallon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully written, this novel takes you into the mind of a bee! The descriptions are amazing.

[asxz-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For the first 100 pages or so, I wasn't sure if this was merely a writing exercise, something tricksy without real substance, but there was an aggregation of action and a genuine through-line that made the ending of the book a more satisfying payoff than many other novels I've read recently.

I really enjoyed this.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A story of Flora 717 the sanitation worker bee tells the story of life in a hive. I read this for one reason; I wanted to read something for a challenge that was about something I feared (phobia) and I have pretty big fear of bees. I had hoped the book would be horror and I think it has a tag for horror but it really wasn't very scary but then I am not a bee. I think, mostly the depiction of hive life was accurate including the dangers in the environment the natural enemies and the man made enemies like poisons, buildings and constructs. From reading mostly Wiki article, most of what is here is factual with some creative license in a few areas. I enjoyed the book but it really never "grabbed me" but still I did enjoy learning about bee life and the story of the potential uprisings in the hive, the misuse of power also could be a allegory for life. The story is anthropomorphic and is about differences and racial identity. The parts about caste and crushes on the males is more a reflection of human society. The book also touches on the hive collapse disease which is not fully understood but of real concern. There is a bit of Orwellian, a bit of Handmaid's Tale and a bit of the Hindu Caste in this tale set in a bee hive in a farmer's field.The author writes plays and according to author information. She hopes to make this a play. I could see it as a ballet or dance performance.

[infjsarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a reading group book which I quite enjoyed. I have no idea if it's scientifically accurate or not and I don't care. It's a FANTASY. Gave me a better appreciation of bees. However if there is some sort of hidden satire on human society it passed me completely. Not the best book I've read but not terrible either.

[iambookish-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

what an amazing, imaginative brain this author possesses! A book that takes place in a beehive, with sensational descriptive scenes and totally a believable narrative that draws the reader right into that world. I will never look at bee in the same way again!

[mirrani_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a completely unique and intriguing way to tell a story! I was simply captivated from the beginning to the end, all because of the nature of the content. The author didn't just think about what it would be like to become a member of the hive, she seems to have actually shrunk herself down and lived the life for herself in order to write about it. Every interaction from hive to the outside world feels so real that I was simply stunned by it all, and the audio version was so well performed that I felt everything come to a whole new level of reality. As far as the writing goes, the book was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for fiction and has many people swooning over it. Some part of me feels as if the swooning is over the idea more than the writing itself. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every word, but I honestly feel that it is the plot and unusual perspective that glues itself to readers most of all. It certainly went that way for me.

[bibliovermis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was very scientifically inaccurate, but I really liked it!

[jenn88-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not only was Flora 717 born into the lowest class of her society, she was also born bigger and darker than the best of them. As a sanitation bee, she is only fit to clean the hive while living to accept, obey and serve which means to do whatever is necessary for the good of the hive and the holy mother. It is discovered that Flora has many talents that are not typical of her kin and while most mutant bees are instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns. Then she is reassigned to become a forager, flying around gathering food for the hive. Flora eventually finds herself in the Queen's inner sanctum where she discovers secrets - some good, some bad. And Flora has a secret of her own, breaking the most sacred law of all.

This started off so bad for me that I wanted to give up and I hate DNFing a book! There were so many smells that it became monotonous and irritating. But I kept at it and while there were still quite a few smells throughout the rest of the book the overall story ended up being okay. It's creative for sure, but it wasn't a book I couldn't wait to pick up again after setting it aside.

[verkruissen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Definitely something worth reading if you enjoyed Watership Down.

[tess_schoolmarm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was quite a surprise! It was a novel about bees! It was life in the hive. Flora 717 was born into one of the lower castes of bees, a sanitation worker. It is her story throughout the book as she meets priestesses, drones, the Queen, the fertility police, and treacherous spiders. This is a world where only the Queen can breed, deformity means death, and the mantra inside the hive is accept, obey, and serve. I was unaware that this was originally written as a YA dystopian novel. I would certainly never describe it as YA or dystopian; I would classify it as as an adult sci/fantasy. This book was wildly imaginative. I would describe it as Animal Farm on steroids. I would think some of the parallels would be too complex for most young adults (teens). This is the ultimate world building novel. Had I known it was actually ABOUT bees, I probably would not have purchased the book, but I'm glad I did. It's refreshing to read outside ones genre comfort. 5 stars for creativity, 3 1/2 stars for readability.

[librolindsay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bees are pretty awesome, people. This book does a great job at conveying the intricate structure of bee life. While the dangerous scenes were every bit as fearsome as you could hope for (and yes, as always, wasps are assholes), there was still an emotional connection I found difficult to quite make. Also, the whole motherhood thing just didn't do it for me, but overall, this novel gave quite an interesting personification of bees. I'd recommend Clan Apis if you're on a roll.

[ma_washigeri · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was lent to me by a friend who compared it to Watership Down. Not my kind of thing really, and maybe anyone who likes Watership Down would like this too. It contains a lot of bee lore but doesn't quite follow it through. Because some of the detail is accurate, the bits that are are not accurate stand out and are annoying.

[pdcread · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Flora 717 is on the bottom rung of the hive. Given the lowest task of ensuring it is clean she has only three orders.

Accept, obey and serve.

She, like her sisters, are prepared to sacrifice everything for their beloved Queen. But Flora has skills that mark her out as different from a regular sanitation worker; normally it would ensure that she would be eliminated. Trusted enough to feed the newborn bees, she begins her ascent of the strict hierarchy in the hive, and becomes a forager collecting the life giving nectar. But this simple bee also holds a secret; a desire to break the most sacrosanct of laws in the hive, one that her enemies would use against her without any hesitation.

There were a few things that I liked about this; the dystopian feel of the book; the totalitarian society and strict etiquettes of the bees, and the sole protagonist (can you call a bee that?) who sets out to fulfil her yearning. But it didn’t quite do it, for me. The plot wasn’t too bad, but even with the twists felt a little predictable and it felt a lot like Animal Farm by Orwell, where it is alien and familiar at the same time. It was a shame really as other have really liked it and I thought that I would too. 2.5 stars overall.

[tess_w · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was quite a surprise! It was a novel about bees! It was life in the hive. Flora 717 was born into one of the lower castes of bees, a sanitation worker. It is her story throughout the book as she meets priestesses, drones, the Queen, the fertility police, and treacherous spiders. This is a world where only the Queen can breed, deformity means death, and the mantra inside the hive is accept, obey, and serve. I was unaware that this was originally written as a YA dystopian novel. I would certainly never describe it as YA or dystopian; I would classify it as as an adult sci/fantasy. This book was wildly imaginative. I would describe it as Animal Farm on steroids. I would think some of the parallels would be too complex for most young adults (teens). This is the ultimate world building novel. Had I known it was actually ABOUT bees, I probably would not have purchased the book, but I'm glad I did. It's refreshing to read outside ones genre comfort. 5 stars for creativity, 3 1/2 stars for readability.

[being_b-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bees is a lot of fun if you're interested in speculating on what a society run by scents, hormones, and deindividuation would be like. Which I am! There isn't much in the way of characters or plot-- things just sort of happen to Flora 717, our main character bee, until about 60% of the way through when she starts making her own decisions. A nice piece of scifi that has me reaching for books about bees.

[zevombat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really odd and absorbing, a book that left me thinking differently afterwards - not so much philosophical lessons learned as having spent a week projected into the main character which is a bee. I'm keeping it to read again in a few years.

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Regretfully, I had to bail on this one. I just wasn't feeling it. Not sure if it was the audio, the subject, or my mood at the time. I may revisit it some day, but today is not the day.

[aliceap-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Flora 717 is a worker bee and the protagonist of Laline Paull's The Bees. It may sound completely far-fetched to write a story from the perspective of a bee but insanely it worked amazingly well. This author clearly did her entomological research. The story revolves around a sanitation bee born to a hive where she is at the lowest rung of society (in fact, others in her kin have not developed speech and she is marked as an oddity). At every turn, she defies convention and strikes out on her own course. Fraught with class division, religious fanaticism, and sexism The Bees gave me an entirely new insight into bee behavior...and made me crave honey. If you're looking for a book unlike any other then I encourage you to give this one a shot...unless you're terrified of bees in which case you'd best steer clear.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although this is a character driven novel, all I could envision while reading this awesome book were childhood memories of hazy 80's PBS documentary footage of interior beehives. That and some of the superior slow motion HD footage of bees on BBC these past few years. As a story, Laline Paull's The Bees is captivating, unique, and kind of bizarre. It sort of reminded me of a Richard Adam's talking animal book, except these were bees, theocratic and authoritarian bees. Paull has clearly done a lot of entomology research on bee science. I found myself intermittently putting down the book and looking up various bee science facts on the internet because I kept finding myself flabbergasted by the complex nature of bee communications. At the same time, and this is really the best part, Paull created fantastic characters that I truly cared about. That's hard to do when your main character is an insect behaving and acting like a real insect. That was the real trick here in this book: how do you make an automaton insect with a hive mind an interesting individual? But I think she managed to pull it off. The infusion of religious dogma and the whole bee outlook on the outside world was believable and consequential to the plot. My favorite scene involved a wasp attacking the hive. That doesn't sound like much at first glance, but on paper it was a very intense and detailed battle. Paull also manages to pull in some subtle themes on pesticides, big agriculture, cell phone towers, and the mysterious bee die-off that has hit the states this past decade. After a great ending all I was really left wondering is what Paull is going to write next.

[krismcg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating insight into social order from the perspective of honeybees. Often compared to Handmaiden's Tale, this novel differs by fictionalizing the society of the bees as the natural order of the hive. This is not necessarily a dystopian or broken society, it just is.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful novel. Not only do you get to find out everything you ever wanted to know about bees, there's also a good Fight-the-Power 1984ish story to go with it.

[skrouhan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever read a book where throughout the entirety of the novel you debate putting it down vs. seeing it through to the end? This was one of those books. The premise was interesting enough - Flora 717 is a worker bee born into the lowest caste, Sanitation, yet we immediately learn she is different from the others. Although loyal to the Queen, she is not as compelled by the "Accept, Obey and Serve" motto of the hive, and is able to do things that only the higher up classes can do. Through her rebellion, she is granted opportunities to explore different jobs of the hive, encountering various sorts of encounters and perils. Soon, she develops a dangerous secret that goes against everything she is allowed to do, forcing her to question the meaning of loyalty, devotion, and love. Although the beginning of the novel is ever so slightly reminiscent of Divergent, it doesn't stay that way for long. Although there are clear threads that tie the entire plot together - which I won't spoil for the rest of you! - I felt like the novel jumped around quite a bit. At times, it seemed like Flora's role changes were simply a convenient way for the author to explore different aspects of a hive. While I did enjoy reading about the different kins and their responsibilities, and most of Flora's dangerous encounters (i.e. wasp fights, cunning spiders, etc.), the plot itself seemed a little jumbled.... I don't know, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if there were a few different character narratives. Honestly, there were times when I found myself enjoying the author's writing style more than what was actually going on in the plot... but something about Flora made me keep reading through to the end. Laline Paull opens an interesting discussion on society and politics, repression, religion and hierarchy - and arguably even love - that I found intriguing, although certainly themes I've read before. The most creative and captivating thing about this book, in my opinion, is simply the amount of work that went into creating the bee environment. In short: if unusual dystopian novels really tickle your fancy, I would recommend picking this one up. I think I'll stick with Atwood.

[pierthinker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The strangest book I have read in a long time. Set in a beehive it tells the story of the hive over a year through a single bee, Flora. Flora encounters ritual, hierarchy, power politics, sacrifice, duty and love all told with a faithful representation of what we know actually goes on inside beehives with a minimum of fantastical interpretation (other than bees communicating with each other as individuals...).This book works on many levels. As a YA book it perfectly captures the insider/outsider pressures of growing up. From a more adult perspective, it shows how enormously intricate, complex and beautiful even the smallest and most hidden or secret parts of our world are and what damage we do to them, even unwittingly, with our focus on just ourselves.I found this book intellectually fascinating and emotionally very moving.

[mishker-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Accept, Obey, Serve."This is the motto that must be followed to stay alive in the hive. The Bees is a uniquely written story that is told from the perspective of Flora 717, a bee born into the sanitation unit. Flora 717's hive is in an orchard and danger comes from many sources, both outside and in; the queen they must worship ages, deformed eggs are being found, forager bees are coming back poisoned, wasps, spiders and crows lurk above the hive and it is being said that winter will come twice. Flora 717 is unique within the Sanitation unit and does not fit in with her sanitation sisters, but since variation is not the dreaded deformity, she is given jobs elsewhere within the hive. As Flora 717 proves herself and moves up within the hive, she finds trouble. Flora 717 defies the Accept, Obey, Serve mantra in order to save her hive.An auspicious and of-the-moment novel for today's society where all bee populations face many of the same threats as Flora 717's hive. I love that this was written from the perspective of a bee, but with all the passion, danger and intrigue of a human society that is on the brink of a disaster. Also, while anthropomorphized Flora 717 and her hive followed much of the honeybee natural history and behavior while still turning out a riveting fictional story. The hive drama and classification of the bees gives a similar feel as a dystopian novel. Scenes of violence, sacrifice and revenge in The Bees, not only echoes hive life but gives the story an added edge. There are also mythical and fable elements that Flora 717 encounters. My one issue with the book, without giving spoilers, was how Flora came to be in the state she was in. It's possible that this was more of a mythical element to the story than a biological one, but most of the bee behavior presented was biological. Anyhow, it didn't ruin the story for me at all.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A vivid and intense dystopian novel told from the perspective a humble worker bee, with rich textural details of hive architecture and apian caste structure, superorganisms and their characteristics. I got sucked into this one quickly and enjoyed it immensely. While Paull has had to take some literary license with bee science in order to make the story work, I found I didn't really mind all that much in the end (though an author's note about this would not have gone amiss).An impressive debut; I'll certainly be watching for more works from Laline Paull.

[christineparker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderfully unique journey through the life of a bee (as imagined by humans)! I thoroughly enjoyed this tale - told from the perspective of Flora 717, a sanitation worker of the lowliest caste. Flora is born with abilities that set her apart from the average worker, and her journey through the different jobs of the hive explores the myriad complexity of the life of bees. Of course the writer gives her a "human-like" personality, but it never feels overly done or implausible. Flora navigates her world through scent, vibration, and chemical signal. Though many of the characters "speak" it doesn't detract from this vividly imagined world.Apart from the beautifully detailed insider's view of a beehive that the author creates, there is also a story line that includes repression, a struggle for power, rebellion, and survival. You will root for Flora as she fights for her kin and for her hive as a whole. I would highly recommend this book as a unique read for fantasy and sci-fi fans.

[julie10reads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Flora 717, a lowly sanitation bee, is born with unusual features and abilities that allow her to move fluidly between the strict hierarchies of her hive. Through this ability, she witnesses the brutality and beauty that the various castes of bees exhibit to keep the hive productive, all in service and loyalty to the queen. But when Flora discovers she is fertile and can produce an offspring, she must betray her instincts to worship the queen bee and follow an untrodden path that leads her away from her kin. Summary BPLLaline Paull, in her debut novel, has pulled off an amazing feat: an absorbing 338 page novel about the life of one bee, Flora 717 (do I detect echoes of Jean Valjean....24601?). I feared for and cheered for Flora and couldn't put the book down!This book was an out of the blue recommendation from LibraryThing. But it makes sense: the political structure of the hive has so many connections to human government. We humans have historically been fascinated with bees and their government. The hive has the reputation of a utopia--a perfect society where each knows her place and function and all work together towards the good of all. Accept Obey Serve The rule of the hive. Margaret Atwood calls THE BEES "a gripping Cinderella, Arthurian take". It is being reviewed as a "dystopian" novel, comparing Laline Paull to Orwell and Atwood.To convey the scale and tone of Flora's world, Ms Paull infuses her tale with a kind of medieval grandeur; I can see why Margaret Atwood described it as "Arthurian". Manners and speech are worthy of the court of King Arthur. And although the bees "think", which some readers will decry as anthropomorphism, they do so within their identities in the hive. This unveiled the mysteries of the hive's inner workings for me, and how the strata of bee society bear many similarities to our own...even though it is a female society--with males relegated to stud service.Flora 717 is an engaging, noble protagonist. Her fears and struggles endear her to the reader. No cutesiness here--unless you consider an apian Joan of Arc cute! My highest praise goes to Ms Paull for making the hive interior knowable, like a palace, and the experience of scent and vibrations as real communication. And hive mind! Have to admit, it made me think of organized religion; particularly Catholicism. (Am I going to be pushed out of the hive/heaven for writing that?)9 out of 10 Highly recommended to all!

[nyiper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have no idea how she managed to make me feel as though I was actually IN the beehive with Flora---the descriptions were incredible---making the bees come to life, yes, an imaginary life, but what a picture it created! I am totally impressed with the writing---really, a wonderful book!!!!

[joannestein · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I heard about this book from Simon Savidge of the podcast The Readers. I'd previously never come across it and as soon as he mentioned the premise, I had to get my hands on it. I love unique science fiction books and lately have been enjoying reading books where you learn about animals as you read (recently finished Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult which involves elephants and was fascinating).The concept of this book is so unique and original. It takes the bee hive and makes it into a bit of a dystopian society with hierarchy and rules and you're not supposed to question anything. I also thought it was a bit of a commentary on the environment and how bees are disappearing and how important they are. Reading this made me even more sympathetic toward these amazing creatures.I have to say it wasn't entirely what I was expecting and perhaps because I read it over a long period of time I didn't find it quite as gripping or suspenseful. Still, I really enjoyed the novelty of it and it was an enjoyable reading experience. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys unique sci fi or enjoys learning about animals through fiction.