Bumblebee Season

From Eileen Garvin, nationally bestselling author of The Music of Bees and Crow Talk, a heartwarming new story that returns to the vibrant world of beekeeping in a small Oregon town

Beekeeper Jake Stevenson should be celebrating. His fledgling honey farm has been inundated with orders. Instead, Jake is worried. He can't seem to hire anyone--with local teens more interested in jobs at Hood River's hip waterfront--and there's no way he can handle the approaching harvest all by himself, no matter how adept he's become at maneuvering among the beehives in his wheelchair.

Meanwhile Flaco López, a young migrant from Mexico, is lost on Mount Hood when he stumbles upon Jake's beehives in a high alpine meadow. As Flaco takes refuge on Jake's farm, they begin to form a tentative friendship. And the two soon cross paths with Abigail Plue, a scientist more interested in insects than people, who's on Mount Hood studying a threatened native bumblebee.

Then a local rabble rouser begins to rally support to build a commercial hunting camp that would destroy Mount Hood's pristine wilderness--the home of Jake's honeybees and Abigail's beloved bumblebees. And Jake, Abigail, and Flaco must come together to protect everything they hold dear. Full of warmth, big-hearted characters, and a celebration of nature in all its complexity, Bumblebee Season reminds us that human connection might just be the most powerful force there is.

Author: Eileen Garvin
Publisher: Dutton
Published: 04/21/2026
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.35h x 6.29w x 1.31d
ISBN: 9798217044900


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 02/01/2026 pg. 52
Publishers Weekly 02/16/2026
Booklist 03/01/2026

About the Author
Eileen Garvin is the author of the nationally bestselling novels Crow Talk and The Music of Bees, as well as the acclaimed memoir How to Be a Sister. Born and raised in Washington State, she lives in Oregon.