Buzz-worthy Covers: Bees All Around Us

Written by: Kelly on July 22, 2014.

Now that we’re deep into the throes of summer in these parts, I can’t help but see the bees we’ve got around our house. They’re especially fond of a bush we have near our front door — and near my outdoor reading area — so it’s a precarious dance around them each time we’re in or out of our house.

Bees on book covers are not necessarily a trend, per se, but after the recent reveal of the cover for Laura Ruby’s 2015 book Bone Gap, I started noticing more and more bee-themed covers on the backlist in both YA and adult books. It’s a unique image, and it’s one that sticks with me because it’s not one I see a whole lot. I think part of it might also be that these covers tend to use colors not always seen on books — yellows and browns that are bright and stand out a bit on the shelves. How great would putting these all on a display look?

Rather than ignore this fun cover image, I thought I’d round-up a pile of them and share with our hive (that was really bad and I’m not sorry).

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. These span from YA titles to adult titles, fiction and non-fiction (though I’ve avoided obvious reference texts about bees because that’s too easy). I’d love if you can think of other covers that feature bees or elements of the bee world.

A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin: 1947 finds Holmes living in a Sussex farmhouse at 93 with a housekeeper and her son, Roger, who discovers evidence of a case never before reported, a case involving a Mrs. Keller, the long-ago object of Holmes’s affection.

The Bees by Laline Paull: A member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive, Flora 717, due to her courage and strength, finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum where she discovers secrets about the hive that cause her to challenge authority and perform unthinkable acts. (I am so, so interested in reading this one because it’s from the POV of a bee and I can’t wrap my mind around that).

A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees by Dave Goulson: One of the U.K.’s most respected conservationists and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the author has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees. Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-hairedbumblebee now only exists in the wilds of New Zealand, the descendants of a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century. Dave Goulson’s passionate drive to reintroduce it to its native land is one of the highlights of a book that includes exclusive research into these curious creatures, history’s relationship with the bumblebee and advice on how to protect it for all time. Here the author combines tales of a child’s growing passion for nature with a deep insight into the crucial importance of the bumblebee. He details the minutiae of life in their nests, sharing fascinating research into the effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and on the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.

The alternate cover for Goulson’s book is bee-rific, too.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: Set in South Carolina in 1964, [this book] tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the town’s fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love–a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King: In 1914, a young woman named Mary Russell meets a retired beekeeper on the Sussex Downs. His name is Sherlock Holmes. And although he may have all the Victorian “flaws” listed above, the Great Detective is no fool, and can spot a fellow intellect even in a fifteen-year-old woman. So, at first informally, then consciously, he takes Mary as his apprentice. They work on a few small local cases, then, on a larger and more urgent investigation, which ends successfully. All the time, Mary is developing as a detective in her own right, with the benefit of the knowledge and experience of her mentor and, increasingly, friend. And then the sky opens on them, and they find themselves the targets of a slippery, murderous, and apparently all-knowing adversary. Together they devise a plan to trap their enemy–a plan that may save their lives but may also kill off their relationship.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (due out March 2015): Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame? Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go. (Description via Goodreads).

Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive by Stephen Buchmann: A fascinating look at the story of bees, the many extraordinary and often unexpected ways they’ve enriched our lives from prehistoric times to today, and their importance in keeping the food chain thriving.

The Honey Trail by Grace Pundyk: The Honey Trail is a global travel narrative that looks at different aspects of how honey and bees are being affected by globalization, terrorism, deforestation, the global food trade, and climate change.

Blind Huber: Poems by Nick Flynn: Meditations on the body, love, devotion, and about nature and the limits of knowledge.

Keeping The Bees by Laurence Packer: A world without bees would be much less colourful, with fewer plants and flowers. But that’s not all — food would be in much shorter supply, and available in much less variety. While the media focuses on colony-collapse disorder and the threats to honey bees specifically, the real danger is much greater: all bees are at risk. And because of the integral role these insects play in the ecology of our planet, we may be at risk as well. The life of Laurence Packer, a melittologist at Toronto’s York University, revolves around bees, whether he’s searching for them under leaves in a South American jungle or identifying new species in the desert heat of Arizona. Packer often finds himself in exotic and even dangerous locales, risking snake bites, sunstroke, and even the ire of other scientists. Everywhere he travels, he discovers the same unsettling trend: bees are disappearing. And since bees are responsible for up to one-third of our food supply, the consequences are frightening. (Description via Goodreads).

At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson: These stories feature cats, bees, wolves, dogs– and even that most capricious of animals, humans.

Kissing the Bee by Kathe Koja: While working on a bee project for her advanced biology class, quiet high school senior Dana reflects on her relationship with gorgeous best friend Avra and Avra’s boyfriend Emil, whom Dana secretly loves.

Of course, I have to end with some Goosebumps and Why I’m Afraid of Bees.

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