The battle between conformity and rebellion rages in this ambitious, bittersweet debut in which the central characters are bees, striving to survive in their orchard hive. Allegorical in the tradition of Animal Farm and Watership Down, this dystopian novel begins with the birth of a bee, Flora 717, and her “violent struggle to hatch” as she is born into the lowliest sanitation worker class in a caste system ruled by the queen bee and priestesses.

But Flora, possessed of special talents, is able to rise through the ranks, from feeding newborns to foraging. “Accept, Obey and Serve” is the maxim governing the hive, but acceptance is difficult for feisty Flora and her inquisitive mind. She cannot always obey, either, when seized by an “overpowering desire to tell the truth”; and her ability to serve is challenged by strong maternal instincts – Flora is torn between loyalty to the queen and to her own mind and body. Sometimes, she learns, it’s better to break the rules.

As well as conjuring the complex hum and throb of the hive, Laline Paull crafts a sticky matrix of emotion, for these bees feel, and Flora’s feelings are palpable. The bees can smell emotions, making this novel a richly evocative feast for the senses. It isn’t only sweetness but bitterness that seeps through the bees’ lives as environmental catastrophe threatens their very survival.

Paull is also a playwright and there are moments of real dramatic tension, although the plot doesn’t always maintain a steady pace and at times breaks the bounds of believability. Nevertheless, the lyrical prose holds the attention, for this is a novel that delights in language, savouring words with the same relish with which Flora rolls honey on her tongue.

Through imagining what it is like to be a bee, the novel ends up reflecting on what a marvel it is to simply be – cutting to the heart of existence as it pits the perils of extinction against the fierce instinct to survive.

The Bees is published by Fourth Estate (£8.99). Click here to order it for £6.99