Rebecca Hanrahan Post 2

At the beginning of chapter eight, the author uses this quotation: “Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.” August, June, May, Lily and Rosaleen have formed their own sisterhood, who love and help each other. August tends to act as a leader, but she does not carry on like a queen. One day, Lily and August talk about the things they love. Lily has to really concentrate on what love is, and how she could possibly describe the feeling to someone else. Although the two ladies talk about material things, the conversation leads to more serious ones later in the novel. The same day, while August and Lily are sealing labels on honey jars, August tells Lily the story of how she acquired the Black Mary. Support is very important to the Daughters of Mary, and telling Lily the story is one way for August to show her love. “Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.” May is never isolated from August, June, Rosaleen, and Lily, but she is obviously not connected to them either. The way May feels more pain than anyone could imagine is what separates her from the sisterhood, and eventually kills her.