The Music of Bees

The Music of Bees is a novel by American writer Eileen Garvin. It was published by Dutton in 2021 and is Garvin’s first novel. Set in Hood River, Oregon, in 2014, the story follows the lives of three people: Alice, a widowed beekeeper who has panic attacks; Jake, an 18-year-old who has depression stemming from an accident that left him paralyzed; and Harry, a young man who experiences social anxiety. Their lives intersect when Jake and Harry start to work at Alice’s farm looking after the bees and taking care of general maintenance. All three characters experience improvement in their mental health, and they join together to rally the community against a company that is spraying dangerous pesticides in the county. The novel thus deals with mental health issues as well as environmental activism and conveys much information about bees and beekeeping as the three protagonists overcome challenges, resolve problems, and work toward a brighter future. As a resident of Hood River and a beekeeper herself, Garvin draws heavily from her own experience for this novel.

This study guide refers to the 2022 paperback edition.

Content Warning: The novel and this guide reference mental health conditions and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

Jake Stevenson is struggling to come to terms with his wheelchair-bound life as a result of sustaining a severe spinal cord injury. One day, he’s riding in his chair on the shoulder of the road when a pickup truck driven by Alice Holtzman, a widowed local beekeeper, nearly hits him. Alice is heading home after having purchased 10 crates of bees. Distracted by thoughts of her late husband, Buddy, she doesn’t see Jake in the dusk until it’s almost too late.

Harry Stokes, the novel’s third main character, moved out west from Long Island, New York, two months earlier and is staying at his 90-year-old uncle’s trailer in BZ Corner. His uncle has been hospitalized, leaving Harry alone. He has no job and no money, and he lacks self-confidence. Hitching a ride into Hood River, he looks for work.

Jake, who fell from his wheelchair trying to get out of the way of Alice’s truck, is thinking of how unhappy his life has been since he returned from rehab. Coming back into the present, he sees Alice looking down at him. She’s trying to help Jake and is also worried about her bees since some of the crates have fallen from the truck. She does her best to retrieve them and gives Jake a ride home. Later, Alice places a job ad for help on her farm. When she discovers a backpack that Jake left behind, she returns it and tells him about the job. He’s very interested in the bees and accompanies Alice in the truck when she drives home.

Harry responds to Alice’s ad and then walks to the waterfront, where he observes some kiteboarders and meets a friendly kiteboarder named Yogi. Meanwhile, Alice gives Jake a tour of the farm, and he’s fascinated by the bees. However, he asks a question that makes Alice remember her late husband, Buddy, and she makes an excuse to leave as she feels a panic attack coming on.

Jake enthusiastically learns all he can about bee life, while Alice, at her job in the Hood County Planning Department, hears that the pesticide company SupraGro will soon start selling its products in the area. Stan Hinatsu, the leader of a local environmental group, tells her that Cascadia Pacific, which is a regional distributor for SupraGro, has a bad environmental record. Meanwhile, Jake decides that he wants to stay at Alice’s farm and work with the bees.

Harry visits his uncle and then bikes to Alice’s for an interview. Although he’s nervous and doesn’t make the best impression, Alice is satisfied with his carpentry skills and offers him the job. Later, she discovers more about the threat to the honeybee populations from SupraGro. Jake, who has had musical training, recognizes the sound emanating from the queen bee as a G-sharp note.

Harry learns that his uncle has died, and a sheriff’s deputy tells him that the trailer has been condemned and he must leave. Then, Alice receives a warning at work that she must not get involved with environmental groups. This angers her, and she gets in touch with Stan. Jake discovers that the queen bees in some of the hives are weak and that in five hives, all the bees are dead or dying. Alice realizes that SupraGro pesticides sprayed on a neighboring orchard are to blame.

The deputy, Ronnie, takes Harry and a stray dog that has attached itself to him to Alice’s farm. Ronnie is Alice’s nephew. She hasn’t seen him for a long time, and the fact that he looks like Buddy triggers her memories. She weeps. The dog is Cheney, Jake’s dog that his father got rid of after Jake’s accident. At a beekeepers’ meeting, Alice announces that five of her hives have died, likely because of SupraGro pesticide drift. She proposes that SupraGro products be banned in the county pending further investigation.

A friendship grows between Jake and Harry. Harry builds new brood boxes for the bees and finds a way to place them alongside each other rather than stacked up so that Jake can reach them. With Jake’s help, Harry learns how to work directly with the bees without fear. At the waterfront, Yogi teaches Harry how to kiteboard, and Jake meets Amri, who later becomes his girlfriend.

Alice learns that the county plans to increase its use of SupraGro pesticides. Department Director Bill Chenowith announces his resignation, and Alice is passed over for promotion in favor of Nancy Gates, whom Alice dislikes. Alice resigns and offers to help Stan’s Watershed Alliance. The pesticide spraying is due to begin in two weeks, and the alliance resolves to try to stop it. Alice plans to visit many farms to alert them to the spraying and have the owners sign a petition opposing it. She learns that Rich Carlson, the department’s finance manager, wants to get back at her by claiming something bad about her sister-in-law, Evangelina. Harry and Jake drive to a morgue in a nearby town to collect the ashes of Harry’s uncle, while Alice meets with Fred Paris, a local orchardist who is unapologetic about his use of SupraGro products. Later, Alice meets with Ron, Evangelina’s husband. She tells him that Carlson wants to target Evangelina via untrue allegations that she employs undocumented workers at her restaurant.

Protesters block a county road so that the SupraGro spray truck can’t pass. However, a vigilante group led by Fred attacks the protesters. Harry jumps into the SupraGro truck and drives it away from the scene. Jake and Alice are arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, but they’re soon bailed out. The protest makes the national news. Under pressure, SupraGro says it will reassess its contract with Hood River County.

The final chapter is set a year later. Jake is now a certified beekeeper apprentice and helps young schoolchildren develop their own hives. Bill has been sentenced to prison for embezzling money from the county, and the county is considering banning some pesticides. Alice has expanded her beekeeping operations and has bought an orchard. Harry is working for a kiteboarding company in Texas. He escaped punishment for commandeering the pesticide truck because the sheriff’s deputy, Ronnie, covered for him. Harry will soon return to work at Alice’s farm.