The History of Bees cover art

The History of Bees

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The History of Bees

By: Maja Lunde
Narrated by: Joy Osmanski, Steve West, Gibson Frazier
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.99

Buy Now for $28.99

About this listen

 “Imagine The Leftovers, but with honey” (Elle), and in the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this “spectacular and deeply moving” (Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author) novel follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a spellbinding story of their relationship to the bees—and to their children and one another—against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis.

England, 1852. William is a biologist and seed merchant, who sets out to build a new type of beehive—one that will give both him and his children honor and fame.

United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper fighting an uphill battle against modern farming, but hopes that his son can be their salvation.

China, 2098. Tao hand paints pollen onto the fruit trees now that the bees have long since disappeared. When Tao’s young son is taken away by the authorities after a tragic accident, she sets out on a grueling journey to find out what happened to him.

Haunting, illuminating, and deftly written, The History of Bees joins “the past, the present, and a terrifying future in a riveting story as complex as a honeycomb” (Bryn Greenwood, New York Times bestselling author) that is just as much about the powerful bond between children and parents as it is about our very relationship to nature and humanity.©2017 Maja Lunde (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Inspiring
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved this book. Everyone should hear this. Very insightful and interesting and sadly very scary unless things change drastically with current farming techniques.

amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting stories from different era's weaving in the importance of family and nature, cleverly woven together. A thought provoking story.

Interesting Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
oh my lordie. Dreadful characters. I really enjoyed the structure...the story of the bees...but had no empathy for a ny of the characters. ans hard ly any setting.

Fabulous material...shame about the lack lustre ch

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Underdeveloped characters who do not turn into anyone interesting. Very well narrated with three aspects of the story being told. People say they connected in the end but it’s not very clear. No I didn’t like the book much, although the bees information was good.

Doesn’t make sense

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
each of the narratives are beautifully woven together and the story is gripping from start to finish.

gripping and well read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Three stories from different periods of history that all link. The narrator does a great job of differentiating the different narrative voices. An interesting listen that makes you reflect on the human impact on the Earth.

An interesting dystopian novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The history of bees was my first ever audio book and I wasn't disappointed. The narration is great, the three readers all have different accents which really helps to keep track if the changes of characters. Joy Osmamski is really the star narrator in this, she did an excellent job but she does have the best character as well. Her narration was so expressive, I really connected to her character as I listened along.
.
.
This novel takes place over three time periods with each chapter switching between the three characters. The changes are easy to follow and in the end we learn how these three are connected.
.
.
The three eras of this novel are 1852, England where we meet William. William wants to be a researcher but let's his lack of confidence get in the way. 2007, USA where George who is a beekeeper in Ohio struggles against the changes in the world. Finally 2098, China where Tao is employed as a fruit tree pollinator because the choices of the world have lead to the destruction and death of the world's insects.
.
.
Tao is undoubtedly my favourite character, I loved her chapters. She exhibits passion, strength and drive. The other two characters are a bit bland, however if they were the same as Tao this novel wouldn't work. Also William does need to be representative of his era in time. I found him very frustrating with his thoughts and actions but considering he lives in 1852 that makes a sense.
.
.
I guessed how these three were going to fit together early in the story. However, I was still enraptured with the novel until the end. The History of Bees left me pondering my impact on the world and how I could improve/lessen that impact. Personally I love books that make me question my life, if you do as well then you should definetely pick this one up and give it a go.

The Hisory of Bees

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So evocative and within the realms of possibility, it grips and does not let you leave.

A keeper

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This story is so well told, no one chapter is enough and I forever found myself listening just a bit longer and a bit longer. The characters are so fully individual and whole. When the story is all woven together you see the little similarities that make it the whole journey complete. Fantastic book!

Impossible to walk away

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So scary and so true.
I did enjoy but made me sad as seeing it now on a daily basis

So scary

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.