The Honey Bus of the title is an army surplus truck converted by Meredith May's step-grandfather into a homespun honey bottling plant. In her grandfather's company, she learns about the secret life of bees and the craft of the beekeeper. As she grows older her grandfather conveys life lessons by using the bees as examples of the proper way to behave.

With the help of her grandfather and the bees, she navigates her parents broken marriage and her mother's inability to mother, born of an abusive childhood.

This is an exemplary work of creative nonfiction. A factually accurate story of real people and events is presented in a very compelling, vivid, and dramatic way..