The Apiary

by Kate Douglas

Zora is overqualified for her new job at the lab, but she’s there because she loves bees—or what is left of them, as it has been years since bees produced honey or pollinated certain fruits and flowers. Her sweet coworker, Pilar, and stressed supervisor, Gwen, have learned to keep their heads and budgets down so their research doesn’t get discontinued. Zora, however, doesn’t mind spending her own time and money to try to rehabilitate the bee population. When an unfortunate incident in the lab leads to a boost in the bees’ numbers, Zora and Gwen have to decide just how far they’re willing to go to keep the population growing. An unsettling and sharp-witted cautionary tale, The Apiary warns that the key to protecting each other and the planet is right in front of us, if only we would listen.

125 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[Javier Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a while there I thought this was going to be another Little Shop of Horrors only with insatiable killer bees playing the role of Audrey II. It fizzled out towards the end though and lacked the catastrophically hilarious ending.

[Chloë Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like i actually really liked this play. I want to sit with it a little bit more. But the way that it contends with death and the future and life and the living is so unique and also didn’t make me wanna hang myself off of a tree. I think the way that Douglas thinks through honoring life and faux honor and aspirations for greatness and how they may manifest was really well done and the atmospheric positioning of the bees feels like a really cool formulation for that. Idk how it would look staged but i am very curious! Good stuff. 4 stars

[Crash Solo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting structure, great central characters. It leaves a lot of problem solving to the director, which can be good. I imagine the bees as a choreographed dance with humans in bee costumes, and maybe later people in lab outfits too, the busy hive of activity. An interesting meditation on colony collapse as a parallel to our society collapsing, too much noise and not enough meaning.