An older woman and her three daughters live on a rural, isolated farm. Maybe Italy? One day a bad man dressed in black arrives and hides in the basement. I think he is stealing their honey. One by one the daughters go down and try to get rid of him, but he captures them all. Finally, the older woman sends the bees down to sting him and he runs away. 1982-1990 approximately
Sounds like a section from Pat Conroy’s “The Prince of Tides”, about a man recalling his family on the South Carolina coast. The part in question may come from a story the man’s sister wrote (a story-within-the-story?): ‘The Southern Way’ which did have three sisters who could speak to animals and insects. The girls and their mother did live alone on a farm in the wilderness, the father had to be away for a time. Three rough men show up and threaten to rape the girls, but the bees and the cattle outside realize what is happening, and rally the other animals to attack the men and save the family. This can be read separate from the rest of the novel, but don’t know if it was ever published that way.
Hope this helps.