The Secret Life of Bees: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

In this chapter’s epigraph, we learn that worker bees, despite their small size, can fly carrying objects that weigh more than they do.

Alone in her room, Lily cries into her pillow. She wonders, “where do I go from here?” She decides to pray before the Virgin Mary statue. Downstairs, she sees the statue, glowing in red candlelight. Lily tries to tell herself not to be angry, but of course this doesn’t work: she’s still angry with Deborah for leaving her as a small child. Furious, Lily throws a tin bucket against the wall. Then she throws jars of honey against the wall. She wishes she could crawl inside the statue “in a secret world of consolation.”

The next morning, Rosaleen wakes Lily up and asks her what happened downstairs—sheepishly, Lily admits she broke some honey jars. Rosaleen points out that Lily is bleeding—she’s cut herself on a jar without realizing it. Rosaleen takes Lily and repairs the cut with Mercurochrome and a Band-Aid. As Rosaleen treats the wound, Lily tells her what she’s learned about August and Deborah. Rosaleen nods—she didn’t know for sure that Deborah was leaving the family on the day she died, but she’d suspected as much. Rosaleen confesses that she remembers Deborah’s three-month absence (the time when she stayed in the honey house, Lily recognizes). Lily demands to know why Rosaleen never told her about this. Rosaleen replies, sadly, that she didn’t want to hurt Lily.

In the afternoon, the Daughters of Mary come to the Boatwright house bearing food for the second day of the Assumption celebration. At the Daughters’ potluck, Lily asks August to tell Zach about Deborah as soon as she can—August agrees. For the rest of the afternoon, everyone celebrates the Assumption. Lily is grateful for this, because it takes her mind off her mother.

The Daughters gather around the Mary statue and bathe it in honey: each woman covers her hands in the honey and then smears the statue with it. August explains that honey is a preservative—by covering the statue with it, the Daughters are symbolically preserving it for another year. Lily enjoys dipping her hands in honey—she feels like she’s wearing a pair of gloves that she can use to preserve whatever she touches.

Later, August comes to Lily’s room with the blue hat she’s promised Lily. She also gives Lily a box containing some of Deborah’s old things. There’s a mirror, along with an old whale pin and a brush that still contains some of Deborah’s hair. Lily decides to wear the whale pin. August also shows Lily a book of poetry that belonged to Deborah. Lily notices one poem in the book, William Blake’s “The Sick Rose,” and she decides that Deborah was a sick rose.

The final item August gives Lily is a photograph of Lily—as a baby—with Deborah. Lily is awestruck by this image, because it lets her know that her mother loved her greatly. She remembers praying that May would make it to Heaven and tell Deborah to send a sign that Lily was loved. Clearly, Lily’s prayers have been answered.