As Ned Kelly lies in the hospital with appendicitis, the last thing he expects is to have a bee offer him a gold liquid that shrinks him to apian dimensions. Together with Nancy Clancy (who speaks only in irritating rhymes), Ned rides off on the bee"s back to live in the hive, where he is enchanted by his new friends: Romeo the lovesick drone, Basil the activist, and haughty Queen Selma. Exciting and witty, Thomas Keneally"s delightful story will bring children hours of entertainment, even as it teaches them more about bees than they"d ever learn in school.