''The Bee on the Comb'' is an armchair treasure hunt book, written and illustrated by

Kit Williams Christopher "Kit" Williams (born 28 April 1946) is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book '' Masquerade'', a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden (18 carat) jewelled hare created ...

and published in May 1984. It is a follow-up to Williams' previous treasure hunt book '' Masquerade'', although not a direct

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

. The book was initially published without a visible title, with the result that it is also known as "Untitled", and "the bee book" and other variations. Discovering the book's true title was the basis of a

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

for readers.

Plot

The book tells the story of a day in the life of a

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

named Ambrose, and how he and his bees are affected by

personifications Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...

of the four seasons.

Contest

''The Bee on the Comb'' is an armchair treasure hunt, although participants did not have to physically find the treasure. Readers were challenged to discover the book's proper title, and to send that title to the author, expressed creatively but non-verbally. The prize – a golden '

queen bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

' statuette and a unique titled copy of the book – would be awarded to the entrant whom Kit Williams judged to have expressed the title in the most interesting way. The contest had a set duration of "a year and a day" from publication of the book, so came to an end on 25 May 1985. Kit Williams appeared on the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

chat show ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcas ...

'' to judge the finalists' entries and announce the winner. The winner was Steve Pearce of Leicester who submitted a small decorated cabinet that depicted the title when the handle was turned.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bee on the Comb 1984 books British children's books British picture books Puzzle hunts Puzzle books 1984 children's books