The Way of the Bees

The Way of the Bees.

On leaving the old nest, the swarm normally flies only a few meters and settles. Scout bees look for a suitable place to start the new colony. Eventually, one location wins favor and the whole swarm takes to the air.

This quotation is taken out of the book “The Secret Life of Bees” but it originates from a book called “Bees of the World”. In the start of every chapter in the book there is a quotation similar to the one above, revealing secrets and facts about the life of bees and how they function. Each of the quotations have special meaning when it comes to the chapter, it tells something about the events that are going to happen by comparing it to the life of bees. It is really original and it is a brilliant and original way to start a chapter.

The quotation I picked out (the one above) comes from Chapter two in the book. Lily, the main character in the book is having some trouble at home with her awful man of a dad, T Ray. Lily feels lost without her mother and this need she has for a female parent is with her everyday with the face of sorrow and desperation. Rosaleen is the housekeepers name and she is a big, proud African American woman whom might seem strict at first, but loves Lily like her own daughter.

The adventure starts when Lily decides to break Rosaleen out of jail after she had made some strong racists mad. Lily and Rosaleen started walking in the direction on Tiburon, a town in South Carolina where Lily is convinced her mom has been because of a belonging Lily once found; a picture of a black Virgin Mary with the word “Tiburon” written on the back of it. This was the place to go Lily thought.

Lily left her old nest, with her beloved companion Rosaleen and together they looked for a new place to settle. The reason why Lily finally got up the courage to leave her dad was that she was tired of his verbal and physical abuse and because of a lie he had told. T Ray told Lily that Deborah, her mom, left Lily. Lily ran away from her father’s lies, from the unhappy life she had lived without love or care. Lily ran towards a future where she would finally have a chance to be happy and her only chance of being happy would be to prove T Ray wrong, to prove that her mother didn’t leave her. But the only way to do so was to find someone who knew her. This began Lily’s search, her search for answers and for happiness and freedom.

In the town of Tiburon, Lily went into a store to buy food. In the store she noticed a honey jar with the same picture of the black Virgin Mary as her mother had. Lily asked the store manager where the honey came from and she received an address and a name; August Boatwright. Amazed by the news Lily knew her mother had to be familiar with this city and had something to do with this August woman. Lily immediately knew she had to find this house and to talk to August. It was destiny, she thought.

Lily and Rosaleen were welcomed by three African American sisters; August, June and May. The sisters were all very welcoming, except June. Lily decided she wouldn’t burst out with the truth, the reason why they were there just yet, so she made up a lie about both her parents dying and that she and Rosaleen were on their way up to Virginia to live with Lily’s “aunt”. Lily was not going to tell August or the sisters anything yet, not until she had won their love and confidence. Lying might be the wrong way to earn confidence, but Lily figured in time it would all be worth it.

Lily fell in love with the family in the pink house right away. They offered them a place to sleep and jobs at the beekeeping farm which they kept. Lily felt good about her new home, and soon she realized that there was no other place she’d rather be than with the calendar sisters and Rosaleen. Lily had found her chance to be a normal little girl, not a refugee looking for her mother. Lily was just a girl, visiting South Carolina on the way to her aunt.

Lily and Rosaleen had found their new colony, their new home on the way of life and her mother, Deborah, is the “queen bee” holding it all together. The traces, the things Lily’s mom left behind led her to the calendar sisters, it led her to a chance of a happy life and a chance to finally learn what family is all about and finally but not least, Lily had a chance to find out more about her mother. The pink house and the life with the calendar sisters turned out to be her new colony and she wished it could last forever.