In 1838 when Mary Bumby's brother John decided to travel from England to be a missionary in New Zealand, she went with him. And she took two hives of live bees on their arduous six-month sea voyage.

This story tells, in her own words, how both Mary and her skeps of bees survived this incredible adventure. When they landed in the Hokianga, she became New Zealand's first beekeeper.

Based on Mary's actual diary and accounts by others, this novel shows near-forgotten skep-keeping practices and what it was like for Mary as one of the few European women living in pre-treaty New Zealand.