A girl’s journey into the heart of a beehive to find herself.

Meredith was five when her parents split and she suddenly found herself in the care of her grandfather, an eccentric Big Sur beekeeper who made honey in an old military bus in the yard. As they bonded over the art of beekeeping, Meredith discovered that everything she needed to know about life and family was right before her eyes, in the secret world of bees. 

Part memoir, part beekeeping odyssey, this is a story about finding home in the most unusual of places, and how a tiny, little-understood insect could save a life. HarperCollins/Park Row Books 2019

”Do not pass up on this book.” — USA Today

“I loved this perfect memoir so much that I read it twice. I can’t wait to put this moving, emotionally compelling book into many hands at the store.” — Diane Grumhaus, Lake Forest Bookstore, Illinois

“A fascinating and hopeful book of family, bees, and how ‘even when [children] are overwhelmed with despair, nature has special ways to keep them safe.’ ”—Kirkus Reviews

“May delivers a powerful account of growing up in 1970s California . . . May learned that, unlike her mother, she needed to look at what she had—her grandfather and a gift for beekeeping—rather than what was missing. May’s chronicle of overcoming obstacles and forging ahead is moving and thoughtful.” — Publishers Weekly

“This touching memoir celebrates family, the lessons we can learn from nature, a marvelous little insect, and those heroic grandparents who, even when things fall apart, ensure the center can hold.” — Amazon 2019 Bestseller

Chosen as one of the best book club reads of 2019 by the Women’s National Book Association

“Captivating and surprising…. If you’ve ever been stung by a bee you will instantly forget the venom and remember forever the sweetness and redemption bees offer in this extraordinary book.” —Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of How To Be A Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus

“Filled with hope, grace, beauty, and wisdom, this book is like warm honey in the sunshine. It beautifully illustrates how nature – even honeybees – can teach and heal us, if only we open our minds and hearts. It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished it—a rare treasure—and you don’t have to be a bee lover to be deeply moved by May’s wonderful story. I’m recommending it to everyone I know.” —Stacey O’Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Wesley the Owl

“An innocent child’s hard won journey to adulthood – clear eyed, often very funny, and agonizingly compassionate. The Honey Bus is all these things and more – so if you’ve ever been a lonely child, or want the world to become a kinder place, here is your book.” —Laline Paull, author of The Bees

“If Meredith May’s book was simply an ethology of bees I would devour every word; her prose is tender, thoughtful and transporting. But The Honey Bus is so much more – a memoir of aching loneliness, reckoning and redemption. Beautiful and brave.” —Domenica Ruta, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You: A Memoir

“The Honey Bus is a rare treat for true storytelling deeply rooted in science. Everyone will leave this book with much more knowledge about bees and humanity, and the compassion that lives at the intersection of the two. [A] captivating coming of age family story.” —Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D., author of The Bee: A Natural History

“To read about Meredith May’s bee family and her human family is to garner heart strength. A true story in every sense.” —Maxine Hong Kingston, bestselling author of The Woman Warrior

“Sometimes when you are in a difficult spot in life you are best served by simply turning to another species and learn how they deal with their difficulties. Meredith May did that with honey bees.”—Sue Hubbell, bestselling author of A Book of Bees

“May mines her deeply upsetting personal history in this sharply visceral memoir.” — Booklist