Throughout The Honey Bus, Meredith sees her grandfather’s honey bees as a symbol of the family she wishes that she had. Meredith identifies traits such as sacrifice and cooperation in the honey beehives and imagines the hive as a family united by these ideals. In Chapter 7, when Meredith and Grandpa accidentally expose a hive to rain during an inspection, the bees organize themselves “as precisely as a battalion, all facing the same direction with their heads north and their wings interlocked, forming a tarp over their precious eggs” (152). Meredith explicitly identifies this as a “sacrifice” and an act of “unconditional love” (153), despite the fact that these bees, as nurse bees, are not the biological parents of the eggs they protect. They represent the love that she wish that she had from her mother but ultimately receives from her grandparents, as well as the love that she gives to her brother. The loving nature of the bees’ sacrifices makes them a symbol of The Importance of Family Support for Meredith.

Later, Meredith learns how hives find new spaces to live: After visiting potential sites, bees “make their decision and return to the hive to dance with the scout whose home they prefer” (274).