Literature / Maya the Bee

(aka: Maya The Bee)

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"Wir treffen heute uns‘re Freundin Biene Maja"
"Diese kleine, freche Biene Maja"
"Maja, alle lieben Maja"
"Maja (Maja)"
"Maja (Maja)"
"Maja, erzähle uns von Dir"^note "We meet our friend Maya the Bee today / This little, cheeky bee Maya / Maya, everyone loves Maya / Maya (Maya) / Maya (Maya) / Maya, tell us about yourself"

— German theme song of the anime adaptation

The Adventures of Maya the Bee (Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer), written by Waldemar Bonsels and released in 1912, follows the life of Maya, a honeybee, and her numerous adventures. Adaptations of the book add more characters that were not present in the original, such as Maya's friends Willy, also a honeybee, and Flip, a grasshopper.

The animated The Adventures of Maya the Honeybee is probably the best-known incarnation (and originated the abovementioned characters). It was originally created by Nippon Animation (formerly Zuiyo Eizo) in Japan between 1975 and 1980^note Although the second season didn't air in Japan until 1982-83 with a total of 104 episodes over two series with 52 episodes each.

Most of the other adaptations of the novel are in part based on the anime series.

This work provides examples of:

• Be Yourself: One of the major themes is Maya finding her own place in life as opposed to being a regular working bee.
• The Joy of First Flight: At the beginning of the book, Maya flies for the first time and gets to experience the wonders of flight outside of her hive.
• Off with His Head!: In the third chapter, the dragon-fly bites Jack Christopher's head off after admitting he's "a dear little fellow".
• Oh, Crap!: The queen and her aides have a brief panic when Maya tells them about the hornets' upcoming invasion.
• Race Against the Clock: In the second half of the book, Maya must warn the queen of the hornets' attack on the beehive before it's too late.
• Virtuous Bees: Bees, especially the titular Maya, are the main heroic characters of the work. The bees are not entirely good — they are rather traditionalist and hidebound, best seen when they exile Maya for breaking the rule against leaving the hive, but they're still shows as a largely benevolent group.
• Wicked Wasps: The hornets are the sworn enemies of the bees and are portrayed as hostile and aggressive. They imprison Maya partway through the book, and the climax occurs when the hornets attack the beehive in force and disaster is averted only through Maya forewarning the bees of the hornets' planned invasion.