The Adventures of Maya the Bee (Dutch: Maja de Bij; French: Maya l’abeille; German: Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer; Italian: L’ape Maia; Polish: Pszczółka Maja; Serbian: Пчелица Маја/Pčelica Maja; Slovenian: Čebelica Maja; Croatian: Pčelica Maja; Slovak:Včielka Maja; Bulgarian: Пчеличката Мая; Czech: Včelka Mája; Greek: Μάγια η Μέλισσα; Hungarian: Maja a méhecske; Spanish: La abeja Maya; Turkish: Arı Maya; Hebrew: Maya hadvora; Arabic: El nahhla zayna) is a book written by Waldemar Bonsels and first published in 1912.

In this children’s storybook, Maya and her friends (Willy the bee, Flip the grasshopper, and Mrs. Cassandra, Maya’s teacher) and many other insects have a colorful life. The book depicts Maya’s development from an adventurous, thoughtless youngster to a responsible adult member of bee society.

   Maya and Mrs. Cassandra

The original book of Bonsels is actually quite short, less than 200 pages. The storyline is centered on the relation of Maya and her society, the adventures serving to educate the young Maya. In the TV-series, on the other hand, the relative importance of the adventures is increased.

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

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. As may be expected, Maya, after severe pondering, makes the decision to return. In the hive, she announces the coming attack and is, totally unexpectedly, pardoned. The forewarned bees triumph over the hornet attack force. Maya, now a heroine of the hive, becomes a teacher, like Mrs. Cassandra and shares her experiences and wisdom with the future generation.