Summary

In the Prologue, a man and woman walk through a yard. She is encouraging him to sell. He sees an old wooden beehive at the edge of the wood, recalls his father calling the bees “his girls.” He tells the realtor he is not ready to sell.

Flora 717 is “born” in Chapter 1, squeezed from a wax cell. She is bombarded with scents and vibrations — keys to how the beehive communicates. She knows her name and her “kin” - a Flora, the sanitation class. Immediately she begins to clean out her cell. Around her bees are bursting from their cells and beginning their similar existence. A bee appears, followed by police. Her wings are deformed, and the police inform her that deformity is against the rules. They kill her and turn their attention to Flora. With their antennae they discern Flora’s own...