Bee Club by Mea McNeil

Bee Club, a novel by M.E.A. McNeil, tells the story of a disparate group attracted to the importance and intrigue of a bunch of insects. They find themselves bound together like kin to these undomesticated creatures – from the curious hobbyists to the entomologists delving into the mysteries of Apis down to the veins in their wings.

Set in the Northern California countryside, the club is a microcosm of the joys and anguish of the wider beekeeping world. The beekeepers confront the reality of a continuing loss of bees. They face pests, pathogens and poor forage – and their own irreconcilable convictions.

The narrative follows, at bee’s-eye level, the lineage of one queen bee with a genetic advantage. Meanwhile, the beekeepers come together for raucous club meetings, county fair contests, a bee beard show, a pathogen-sniffing dog, a bee truck spill, a battle against regulation that would shut them all down, the annual Bee Ball and an event that brings an unexpected resolution. Here is an engrossing, witty and accurately-detailed story, as much about bees as their hovering people.

About the Author, Mea McNeil

Mea is a journalist and Master Beekeeper living in a strawbale house on a small Northern California organic farm with her husband and son. Her queries into the world of beekeeping for non-fiction articles over two decades ave provided a depth of education that frames her current novel, Bee Club. Mea received an Aesop Accolade for one of her books on Finnish mythology.

Praise for Bee Club

“Wonderful. Just – wonderful. From descriptive passages that made me feel Like I was there, to heartbreaking scenes, to the right-on-the-money portrayal of the journalist, I enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Witty, heartwarming and true-to-life.”

Eugene Makovec
Editor, The American Bee Journal

“Bees have a way of healing and educating people, and the process is usually unconventional. With a clear and honest voice, M.E.A. McNeil takes us on Lilja’s journey into the world of bees and beekeepers where we experience truth-telling within Finnish saunas, just-like-real-life
bickering among beekeepers, and biologically sound depictions of bees’ magical ways. We learn it is not just Lilja’s journey; it is also all of ours.”

Marla Spivak
Distinguished McKnight Professor of Entomology, University of Minnesota
MacArthur Fellow

“This beautiful, evocative story is a love letter to the creative and un-expected communities that sustain us, to the back-roads landscape of northern California – and to the surprising ways that beekeeping can connect hearts and minds. The characters are complex, the vivid descriptions engage your senses, and the story compels you to keep reading.“

Sarah Pollock
Writer and longtime senior editor, Mother Jones
Professor Emerita, Mills College

“A thoroughly modern, warm-hearted story. The bee ‘facts’ are impeccable—and extensive in the novel. You will enjoy the beekeeping and the story around the bees.”

Dewey Caron
Emeritus Professor of Entomology, University of Delaware
Author of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping

Bee Club, a novel by Mea McNeil