The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees Hardcover – April 2, 2019

A truly lovely book about the importance of of bees in our lives and the importance of of love. I can’t recommend it more highly.

I read this book for book club. What a find! Ms. May is a gifted writer with a compelling story of a painful childhood that was blessed by a "step" grandfather. I knew I'd have an ugly cry at the end and I wasn't mistaken. Moving and beautiful, a testament to human relationships and the stunning complexity of bees. It's a definite future re-read, it was that beautiful for me.

This was a good family story with good messages! It did hit close to home with me in some places. I felt good seeing that some of my feelings are OK. Puts a smile on me face. I loved seeing how this little girl grew with her mind and heart in the right place. I loved seeing her step-Grandfather being such a big part of her life and who she grew up to be. She and her brother were good for him too. This is a heart warming story with lots to learn in parenting and grandparenting. Sadly not every family has that one special person there to see that all does turns out well and happy!

Factual information of bees and beekeeping woven throughout a tender and heartbreaking life of young children with an emotionally damaged mother caused by generations of abuse. Thanks to a loving step-grandfather who takes them into his world of beekeeping where they learn about a better life and how to escape their reality. Beautifully written.

Just another memoir of a dysfunctional childhood? Not quite! The Honey Bus is an education in secrets kept, love withheld, protection denied, co-dependency, injury, all of that. It is also an education in healing all those human wounds, as taught by one species and its caretaker to another. The words are beautiful, never awkward, always carefully arranged to evoke the moment. The life of bees is revealed bit by bit, like sweet drops of honey, as Meredith grows in curiosity and understanding. Grandpa tunes every experience with the bees and every explanation to exactly the right pitch for her. There is enough sorrow and shock in the story make you weep. There is enough peace and joy to give you hope for, well, for everything. Meredith's excursions into the larger world as she attends school carry all the normal angst of youth but always there is a safe harbor for her with Grandpa and the bees. We should all be so blessed! I wasn't sure about the book when I started but I couldn't put it down after the first couple of chapters.

I love this book and want all of my friends and family to read it. I’ve given this book as gifts and I need to buy some more. It’s a true story. Everyone needs to know how delicate and incredibly smart bees are and how important it is for us to protect them always. I want my grandchildren to read this book so they can tell their friends about it. Please put this on your must read list!

This memoir is a lovely story about the traumatic childhood of a young girl who is loved and nurtured by her step grandfather. Through him, she learns about bees and beekeeping. She is able to draw life lessons from the bees. The work the author did with her grandfather gave her purpose, peace and an area of security in a life that felt rudderless. This book was hard to read at times due to the relationship between the author and her mother and grandmother. Meredith May can teach us all about resilience.

The book not only reveals much about the human condition- particularly parenting and childhood, but teaches the reader much about bees. I can never look at one again without marveling at their role in the very interdependent ecology.

That 2 young children survived such a dysfunctional and ultimately physically abusive mother is amazing and disturbing. Her grandpa, the bees and the honey bus are the wonderful part of the story and as a small scale backyard beekeeper myself her writing of the bees is excellent. Sue Hubbell's Book of Bees comes to mind. Thank you Meredith, I'll be reading this again, at least the bee parts.

Meredith uses these pages to tell us about her childhood and her relationship with bees. With complicated family dynamics, her grandpa and the bees become her confidants and provide her with the refuge she craves from her turbulent relationship with her mum.The more time she spends with the bees, the more she learns of their roles and their family dynamics; and whilst she’s not experiencing it at home, she sees the stability, support and strength that a family should have. Her grandpa uses the bees as a medium, to discuss family issues, allowing Meredith to understand and cope with her mum.After finishing this memoir, it’s fair to say I clearly knew very little about honey bees before I started it!I was absolutely fascinated by how these bees ‘work a hive’; it’s a very sophisticated mini-metropolis with every bee having a role to play in their society, their dedication to everything they do is both enthralling to watch and incredibly humbling. We could learn a lot from bees.This is a beautiful, moving and powerful read that will make any reader reflect on themselves and the relationships surrounding them. It’ll make you feel grateful for the stability you may have overlooked, and remind you to pay attention to those chores/jobs that people around you do, without you even appreciating how it keeps your home/your work/your life moving smoothly.But the most important message is to understand how much we need bees, which is starting to be well heard thanks to the campaigns, however I’ve never before appreciated the severity and the detailed reasons of why the bees are in decline.I adore books like this, there is nothing more satisfying than reading and learning at the same time. My heart grew from reading of Meredith’s childhood, and my brain stored even more compelling facts.

This is an emotionally enthralling read as much as it is educational. I enjoyed the depth and honesty of emotion and how nature (and her grandfather’s love and guidance) were so pivotal to this woman’s ability to overcome and forgive. A wonderful read!

This is a beautiful story of a little girl with many challenges due to family dynamics. It always amazes me how someone so young can overcome these hard times and grow up to be so productive. She faced many trials and tribulations but had the love and guidance of her grandfather who really, saved her and gave her the encouragement to go on. A big plus - I learned so much about bees!

From the moment I started this book, I couldn't stop turning those pages. For anyone who has been through a tumultuous childhood, this will resonate with you. What also comes across is how one person, who isn't even officially a blood relative can behave more like family than blood ever will, how they can impact and influence your life going forward in such a positive way. And then of course, there are the bees, fascinating creatures, so important to the world as a whole and this book reasserts that us humans cannot exist alone, without nature and the bees, we are nothing, nothing at all...