August Boatwright
August Boatwright is the eldest of the three sisters. She is the head beekeeper. She is filled with wisdom and insight. She cares for Lily and Rosaleen like they are family. She was Deborah's nurse growing up. She was a motherly figure to Deborah. They kept in close contact. August is also the leader of the religion-like group The Daughters and Son of Mary.
On August's jars of honey she has a picture of the Black Mary as her label. This is very edgy for this time period of history.
June Boatwright
June has a hardened outlook on life. She was once engaged and left at the altar. She taught history and English at the colored high school. She also played the cello for dying people. She had a suitor named Neil, who was around often. He continuously asked June to marry him. Time after time she turned him down. After May's suicide, she finally agreed to marry Neil.
At first June was appalled by the idea of Lily and Rosaleen staying with them. She knew Lily was lying and did not want to help her. After a water fight one steaming afternoon, Lily and June settled their differences.
May Boatwright
May Boatwright was simpleminded. She was a grown up and a child. She never harmed anything. She would make food trails to lead the bugs out of the house instead of killing them.
May had a twin sister, April. They were inseperable as children. April hated the way the world worked, how the color of skin was so vital to life. She became depressed and committed suicide. After that, May was never the same. She could not differentiate the woes of the world from her own. She would feel the pain for anything bad that happened. That is why she never killed bugs, she would feel their pain. When May became upset she would start to hum "Oh, Susanna." Whenever that happened May would go out to her wall. She created her very own Wailing Wall. She would write down whatever had upset her and stick it in the cracks of the wall.
May became so depressed, she took her own life. She went to the river by her house and drowned herself.
Zachary Taylor
Zach was August's godson. He worked with August and helped take care of the bees. He had big dreams. He wanted to become a bigshot lawyer. He frequently visited the local lawyer and spent time with him. One day Zach was arrested for a crime he did not commit. This experience hardened him. He was not the sweet innocent boy anymore.
Zach and Lily had a relationship together. Lily was fascinated with him from the beginning. Amazed that she could like a black boy. Zach encouraged Lily to follow her dreams. He went and bought her notebooks that she filled with her stories.