Writer gets a buzz from life inside the hive

The Bees By: Laline Paull Publisher: Ecco; First Edition edition Year published: 2014 Price: $19.70 Pages: 352

Three years ago playwright Laline Paull began to notice bees in her garden in Sussex in southeastern England. Her interest was inspired by the death of a beekeeping friend.

"Angie had breast cancer, and she wasn't going to make it. I was awed at her graciousness in the face of her terror and when she died, in order to keep that feeling of how wonderful she was, I started reading about bees. She was gone but the bees were not gone."

The more Paull read the more inspired she was.

"Everything I read made me think 'Wow, they do that? They fly how far? It takes how many bees their whole lives to make a teaspoon of honey?'"

The result is her debut novel, The Bees, a story of intense drama within a hive, framed by a biological integrity that both intrigues and informs.

Through the protagonist Flora we learn of the hive mind, the blissful scent of mother love, nectar gathering, and encroaching sickness. The pampered drones (male bees) are sketched with expert humor as the females "worship to his maleness", before disaster strikes.

Paull studied English at Oxford, screenwriting in Los Angeles and theater in London. She is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Writer's Guild of America. She spoke to Reuters about The Bees:

How much authenticity is there in the social organization of the beehive?