When author Josie Laird took her son Sam to a local A&P show in Pukekohe, a town south of Auckland, the young lad was entranced with the beekeeping display.
“We always encouraged Sam’s interests, like when he was into rock tumbling and made jewellery to sell to our friends!” says Josie of that chance encounter 14 years ago. “So when he saw the display hive and was asked if he could spot the queen, he announced that he’d like to keep bees.”
Wary of letting a 12-year-old loose with the buzzy creatures, Josie, a former scientist, signed up for a night class with a local beekeeping club.
“It was a little late at night for Sam, so I went along and came home and shared what I’d learned,” she recalls.
However, the doting mum could never have imagined where her adventures in apiculture would lead her, as it was during the very first class that she learned about Mary Bumby, sister of Wesleyan missionary John Bumby, who brought the first hives of honey bees to New Zealand in 1839.
“I was really just supporting Sam and it wasn’t until I had my first hive that I realised how immersive beekeeping can be,” she tells. “Once my first hive was in place and the bees were learning their new home, I’d check on them every day.
“Only you can’t keep disturbing them, so I’d count off the days until I could open the hive to see if they were bringing in honey or making baby bees.
“Living on a lifestyle block, we also grow our own food, generating electricity and collecting rainwater. I’m a bit of a hippy at heart and while our son eventually moved on to other interests, I’d become a stalwart at my local beekeeping club.”
Going on to win prizes for her honey, as well as training to inspect for diseases, Josie even dreamed about bees.
“I’m similar to my son in that I have lots of interests – including gardening, tramping, travelling and reading – but when Sam left home, I recalled a comment he’d made about the possibility of me writing a book one day, even though I had not written creatively since I was at school,” explains Josie about how the seed of her novel-writing career was sown.
A quick Google search saw Josie join an introductory writing course at The Creative Hub.
“My first piece of writing was atrocious,” she admits. “But one thing the course taught me was that writing can be learned, so I took more courses and workshops, and I went to retreats.
“Then in 2022, having already published two earlier novels, I enrolled for AUT’s Masters of Creative Writing and my thesis formed the basis of Miss Bumby’s Mission.
“Although this one required much more research and reading than my other two,” shares Josie of the complex process of writing an historical biography.
Her extensive research took her to libraries and private collections around the country, and she connected with historians and relatives of Mary’s.
“I even visited Mary’s birthplace in Yorkshire and when I was in England, I took a workshop on skep-making – skeps being those upside-down straw baskets like the ones you see on Beehive matchboxes,” tells Josie of her deep dive into the life of the pioneering beekeeper.
It’s been six years since Josie first started writing Miss Bumby’s Mission, which is an enchanting novel that tells the story of one woman’s bravery as she kept two hives of bees alive during a six-month sea voyage, then shines a light on her intrepid life in Aotearoa.
Josie is still buzzing after seeing her literary labour of love take flight, but is taking a breather after a trio of lively book launches.
She explains, “The first was at St John’s, the historic stone church that Mary and her husband built on their farm in East Tāmaki, which one of Mary’s great-great-granddaughters came to.
“There was also a larger launch in Pukekohe, because the church is quite small, and a week later, I went to Nelson for an event at Page & Blackmore.”
As to what she’ll do next, Josie doesn’t want to give too much away, but she will say that while researching Mary’s life, she was astonished to discover how incredible the humble bumblebee is, so there’s a possibility that could be the next source of inspiration.
Miss Bumby’s Mission by JM Laird (Northern Bee Books UK, rrp $35) is on shelves now.
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