What do you think?
Rate this book
A Hive of Busy Bees
When Don and Joyce have to unexpectedly stay the summer with their grandparents at the farm, Grandma helps them over their homesickness by telling them "Be" stories that teach lessons of obedience, honesty, kindness, contentment, and other values.
Each day on the farm presents exciting opportunities for the children to experience outdoor life -- so different from the city -- especially the first day when they encounter a hive of angry bees. From this episode Grandma chooses stories from her scrapbook and skillfully develops some character lessons for each evening's bedtime bee story.
A delightful book written in such a way that makes it easy for children to learn the same lessons Don and Joyce did.
Note from the publishers: With permission from the Metropolitan Church Association, we have revised the work of Effie M. Williams to strengthen the lessons taught.
Each day on the farm presents exciting opportunities for the children to experience outdoor life -- so different from the city -- especially the first day when they encounter a hive of angry bees. From this episode Grandma chooses stories from her scrapbook and skillfully develops some character lessons for each evening's bedtime bee story.
A delightful book written in such a way that makes it easy for children to learn the same lessons Don and Joyce did.
Note from the publishers: With permission from the Metropolitan Church Association, we have revised the work of Effie M. Williams to strengthen the lessons taught.
77 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 15, 2008
I love those bee stories. They were like if I was like learning to be kind and patient and truthful and honest, and I loved those stories. What I loved the most is where we can have a great day when we listen to our consciences.
October 6, 2013
Grandma had this one, and she must've reached for it often, as the illustrations still linger in my mind. I never was overly fond of the stories, though.
September 25, 2018
This is an extremely well done book teaching children morals and manners by telling them to "Bee" this and "Bee" that. This has bedtime stories written all over it.
August 1, 2026
Number of pages: 158
Genre: Children’s fiction
Series: There is a sequel, Another Hive of Bees
Age recommendation: 6-12
Summary: Don and Joyce are spending the summer at their grandparents’ farm. After an unfortunate incident with the bees in the orchard, Grandma starts telling the kids about another kind of bee whose sting goes far deeper and lasts much longer.
My thoughts: I loved this book when I was younger. I loved that it is short stories so it was easy to take a break but still feel like I read a story. I used to look through the book for my favourite short stories and just reread them over and over and over again. I also remember begging my mom for “just one more” story when she read them to me and my siblings before sending us to bed. Therefore this book held a lot of nostalgia for me, and I loved rereading all those stories that reminded me of my childhood.
That being said, the lessons of the stories are good, but some of the stories themselves are a little extreme. One in particular that I remember being traumatizing is about “Bee Helpful.” The boy goes fishing instead of helping his mom and when he gets back, she’s dead from exhaustion from doing his chores. I mean, she was already recovering from an illness and not doing great, but she died from washing the dishes?! As a kid, that story really stressed me out. Did it make me do my chores? Maybe the day I read it but not really. Other stories, while maybe not quite that dramatic have close friends or family members being badly hurt or coming close to dying because the main character didn’t listen to the bee. As I said before, I appreciate the messages about being helping, kind, respectful and content, but the stories are extreme and could impact kids negatively.
My favourite stories are probably the "Bee Content" story and the one about the crippled boy.
Near the end of the book I didn’t think the number of days they said they had left at their grandparents lined up properly with the number of busy bee bedtime stories the kids heard. I definitely could have counted wrong or misread a number though. Plus, there were more stories than I thought there was supposed to be and I won’t complain about that :)
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it, with a caution that parents might want to read first to ensure that they’re ok with all the stories. And if they’re not, I honestly think it’s fine to skip one or two chapters; it won’t take away too much from Don and Joyce’s overarching story.
My personal rating: 4/5 stars.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
Genre: Children’s fiction
Series: There is a sequel, Another Hive of Bees
Age recommendation: 6-12
Summary: Don and Joyce are spending the summer at their grandparents’ farm. After an unfortunate incident with the bees in the orchard, Grandma starts telling the kids about another kind of bee whose sting goes far deeper and lasts much longer.
My thoughts: I loved this book when I was younger. I loved that it is short stories so it was easy to take a break but still feel like I read a story. I used to look through the book for my favourite short stories and just reread them over and over and over again. I also remember begging my mom for “just one more” story when she read them to me and my siblings before sending us to bed. Therefore this book held a lot of nostalgia for me, and I loved rereading all those stories that reminded me of my childhood.
That being said, the lessons of the stories are good, but some of the stories themselves are a little extreme. One in particular that I remember being traumatizing is about “Bee Helpful.” The boy goes fishing instead of helping his mom and when he gets back, she’s dead from exhaustion from doing his chores. I mean, she was already recovering from an illness and not doing great, but she died from washing the dishes?! As a kid, that story really stressed me out. Did it make me do my chores? Maybe the day I read it but not really. Other stories, while maybe not quite that dramatic have close friends or family members being badly hurt or coming close to dying because the main character didn’t listen to the bee. As I said before, I appreciate the messages about being helping, kind, respectful and content, but the stories are extreme and could impact kids negatively.
My favourite stories are probably the "Bee Content" story and the one about the crippled boy.
Near the end of the book I didn’t think the number of days they said they had left at their grandparents lined up properly with the number of busy bee bedtime stories the kids heard. I definitely could have counted wrong or misread a number though. Plus, there were more stories than I thought there was supposed to be and I won’t complain about that :)
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it, with a caution that parents might want to read first to ensure that they’re ok with all the stories. And if they’re not, I honestly think it’s fine to skip one or two chapters; it won’t take away too much from Don and Joyce’s overarching story.
My personal rating: 4/5 stars.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
September 12, 2023
This is a good old fashioned book full of fun stories that my children like to hear. Each story has a "bee" quality or moral, such as "bee" careful, and it keeps the children interested to know more.
Two children are spending the summer with their loving and caring grandparents and they learn some very important lessons while there!
We made some little fuzzy bees out of pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and painted craft antennae, and a paper beehive for the bees, and added them to the cells (hung on the wall) as we read the stories. It was cute and fun!
Two children are spending the summer with their loving and caring grandparents and they learn some very important lessons while there!
We made some little fuzzy bees out of pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and painted craft antennae, and a paper beehive for the bees, and added them to the cells (hung on the wall) as we read the stories. It was cute and fun!
July 27, 2021
Character lessons told in stories by a grandmother to grandchildren. I remember my younger kids really enjoying it but I guess the next kids are cooler because they thought the stories pretty cheesy 🤣. And I had to agree. So maybe I’m cooler now than I used to be too 😎
May 9, 2008
This book is several decades old, but it's message and morals are timeless. Don and Joyce stay with their grandparents on their farm over the summer, and each night before bed, Grandma shares with them stories that teach morals in a realistic way.
This isn't a book that pampers children with wrist slapping consequences, more on the heart wrenching and mind imprinting kind. For example, in one of the bedtime stories, a boy lies to his father about shutting the gate, and this results in his toddler brother being kicked by a mule and hurt for months as he tries to recover the blow to his spine. The boy apologizes and admits his error, the moral is to "BEE HONEST" and the children seem grateful to learn from his error that will keep them from sour consequences of their own.
Perhaps it's too harsh - but it was refreshing to me, no Hollywood endings for these stories! And it's not so traumatic that the girls were appalled or sombered beyond the desire to read it to them, conversely, they asked me for MORE MORE MORE!!! at the conclusion of each chapter, and so we often read three or four at a sitting.
This edition also has frequent illustrations, keeping the children close and patient during readings, anxious to see what the story is behind each picture.
Highly recommend. We're on to it's sequel, "Danny and Debbie Learn from Another Hive of Bees."
This isn't a book that pampers children with wrist slapping consequences, more on the heart wrenching and mind imprinting kind. For example, in one of the bedtime stories, a boy lies to his father about shutting the gate, and this results in his toddler brother being kicked by a mule and hurt for months as he tries to recover the blow to his spine. The boy apologizes and admits his error, the moral is to "BEE HONEST" and the children seem grateful to learn from his error that will keep them from sour consequences of their own.
Perhaps it's too harsh - but it was refreshing to me, no Hollywood endings for these stories! And it's not so traumatic that the girls were appalled or sombered beyond the desire to read it to them, conversely, they asked me for MORE MORE MORE!!! at the conclusion of each chapter, and so we often read three or four at a sitting.
This edition also has frequent illustrations, keeping the children close and patient during readings, anxious to see what the story is behind each picture.
Highly recommend. We're on to it's sequel, "Danny and Debbie Learn from Another Hive of Bees."
September 13, 2007
My mom read this to us, also the next book, "Another Hive of Busy Bees".
July 16, 2008
Great family read alouds! Rachel and Daniel said they liked the second to the last bee the best, Bee Content!
July 9, 2008
These are wonderful stories to teach kids character. My girls love them.
August 6, 2008
I wonderful book of stories that teach values. A great read aloud to children. I loved this book.
April 20, 2015
I remember I always liked it, when I was younger. It's full of interesting, and often exciting stories that all have lessons to them without being preachy.
January 16, 2024
Awesome christian character building evening stories for children.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews