Honey Bee Book Club Experience
Have you already read the latest bestsellers with your book club? Try something a little sweeter. A honey bee–themed book club gathering blends literature, nature, and a touch of hive magic.
Choose a novel, memoir, or science book that features honey bees—from beloved titles like The Secret Life of Bees or The Music of Bees to fascinating nonfiction about beekeeping and bee behavior. I’ll join your discussion as a guest beekeeper to illuminate the real-life science and traditions behind the story. Together we’ll explore themes from the book while learning about the remarkable world of honey bees: how colonies function, how honey is made, and what the hive can teach us about resilience, cooperation, and community.
To make your gathering truly memorable, you can add a hands-on or tasting experience inspired by the hive. Options include:
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Bee’s Knees cocktail demonstration (a classic gin, lemon, and honey cocktail)
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Honey tasting flight exploring the flavors of different floral sources
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Beeswax candle rolling
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Honey body scrub making
These interactive elements create a warm, social atmosphere and give everyone something tangible to take home.
I have a curated list of bee-themed books that work beautifully for discussion, or I’m happy to tailor the experience around a title your group has already selected.
A youth version of the Honey Bee Book Club is also available. There are so many wonderful children’s books about bees, and young readers love pairing stories with hands-on activities like candle rolling, honey tasting, or learning how bees make honey.
Whether your group gathers around a table, in a living room, or at a community space, a Honey Bee Book Club brings together stories, science, and a little sweetness from the hive.
A few good choices...
The Music of Bees
by Eileen Garvin
Synopsis: Three lonely strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life's curveballs, are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship, healing--and maybe even a second chance--just when they least expect it.
Content Notes:
Themes of grief, loss, and mild substance abuse.
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Realistic look at modern beekeeping
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Practical bee vocabulary
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Connection to mental health benefits
In the Middle of Hickory Lane
Heather Webber
A single mother and her daughter move to a small Southern town where gardens flourish, neighbors share quiet magic, and bees seem to carry messages of hope and healing. As they settle into the community, they discover that the natural world holds unexpected wisdom.
Content Notes:
Grief, family conflict.
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees 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.
Content notes:
Domestic abuse, racism, grief.