Maya the Bee

''Maya the Bee'' () is the main character in ''The Adventures of Maya the Bee'', a German book written by Waldemar Bonsels and published in 1912. The book has been published in many other languages and adapted into different media. The first American edition was published in 1922 by Thomas Seltzer. The latter's wife Adele Szold-Seltzer (1876-1940), the daughter of Benjamin Szold and younger sister of Henrietta Szold, was the translator.

The stories revolve around a little bee named Maya and her friends Willy the bee, Flip the grasshopper (referred to as "Maja", "Willi" and "Philip" respectively in some versions), Miss Cassandra (Maya's teacher), and many other insects and other creatures. The book depicts Maya's development from an adventurous youngster to a responsible adult member of bee society.

Plot

Bonsels' original book contains fewer than 200 pages. The storyline is centered on the relation of Maya and her many adventures.

Maya is a bee born in a bee hive during internal unrest: the hive is dividing itself into two new colonies. Maya is raised by her teacher, Miss Cassandra. Despite Miss Cassandra's warnings, Maya wants to explore the wide world and commits the unforgivable crime of leaving the hive. During her adventures, Maya, now in exile, befriends other insects and braves dangers with them. In the climax of the book, Maya is taken prisoner by hornets, the bees' sworn enemies.

Prisoner of the hornets, Maya learns of a hornet plan to attack her native hive. Maya is faced with the decision to either return to hive and suffer her due punishment, saving the hive, or leaving the plan unannounced, saving herself but destroying the hive. After severe pondering, she makes the decision to return. In the hive, she announces the coming attack and is unexpectedly pardoned. The forewarned bees triumph over the hornet attack force. Maya, now a heroine of the hive, becomes a teacher like Miss Cassandra and shares her experiences and wisdom with the future generation.

Analysis of the book

It has been suggested that the book may have carried a political message, analogous to Jean de La Fontaine's or Ivan Krylov's work. According to this view, Maya represents the ideal citizen, and the beehive represents a well-organised militarist society. It has also elements of nationalism and speciesism. Maya gets angry in two instances. First, a grasshopper fails to distinguish between bees and wasps. Maya's verbal response includes calling the wasps "a useless gang of bandits" 'Räubergeschlecht''that have no "home or faith" 'Heimat und Glauben'' Second, a fly calls Maya an idiot, which prompts Maya to shout that she's going to teach "respect for bees" and to threaten the fly with her stinger. The critic interprets this to mean that respect is based on the threat of violence. Collectivism versus individualism is also a theme. Maya's independence and departure from the beehive is seen as reproachable, but it is atoned by her warning of the hornets' attack. This show of loyalty restores her position in the society. In the hornet attack part of the story, the bees' will to defend the hive and the heroic deaths of bee officers are glorified, often in overtly militarist tones.

In the post-WWII adaptations, the militarist element was toned down considerably, the hornets' role reduced, and the character of Willy, a lazy and quite un-warlike drone bee, was introduced (he does not appear in the novel). In the cartoon series, the briskly marching, but ridiculously incompetent ant armies provide a parody of militarism.

Main characters

* Maya – Bee. The series main protagonist. She loves freedom and living in the meadow by herself, unlike other bees who live in the hive. She is good, fair, happy and willing to help everybody.
* Willy – Bee. Lazy, clumsy, and cowardly, sometimes a showoff, but generally good-natured – not featured in the original Bonsels story, but a major character in all adaptations other than the 1924 film. His relationship to Maya is depicted inconsistently: in most adaptations, he's her best friend, who is secretly in love with her, prone to jealousy when Maya's attentions turn to others. Often reluctantly dragged into adventures by Maya.
* Flip (or Philip) – Grasshopper. A wise friend of Maya and Willy. Introduced first in the animated series. Whether he is meant to be identical with the unnamed grasshopper of the books is unclear.
* Alexander (or Aleksander) – Mouse. Intellectual, whose level of respect among the other creatures, and close friendship with Maya, often sends Willy into jealous rages. Appears only in the second season of the older animated series (1978).
* Miss Cassandra – Bee, Teacher at the Bee-School.

Films, anime and television

1924 film

German director Wolfram Junghans made a 1924 silent version ("starring" real insects). The film was lost for a decade until the only original copy of the film was found in Finland.Maija Mehiläinen
Suomen Elokuva-arkisto (in Finnish) The material was restored in 2005 with a new musical score and released on DVD in 2012, in collaboration with the KAVI and the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, and the film was screened in both Hamburg and Helsinki.

1975 anime

Perhaps the most popular and widely known adaptation of the story is the Japanese anime . Originally aired on Japanese TV in 1975, the anime has been dubbed into 42 languages and screened on television in various territories. The Japanese TV series was preceded by Tokyo Kodomo Club's musical play based on the short story, presented as ''Mitsubachi Māya'' ("Maya the Honeybee"), distributed on an LP album.

The original theme was composed by Karel Svoboda and sung by Karel Gott

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