Each chapter of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees begins with an epigraph, a few lines taken from various books about bees. These are used for many reasons; to connect each chapter with the major motif of bees, to provide insights in to the events of each chapter, and to accentuate the ideas about women and mothers that resonate throughout the entire story. Chapter four begins by saying that “’Honeybees are social insects and live in colonies. Each colony is a family unit, comprising a single, egg-laying female or queen and her many sterile daughters called workers. The workers cooperate in the food-gathering, nest-building and rearing the offspring. Males are reared only at the times of year when their presence is required.’ (Bees of
