The Beekeeper is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on February 20, 2005, through Epic Records and is her second release for the label. As with many of Amos's releases throughout the 2000s, The Beekeeper is a concept album, heavily inspired by the practice of beekeeping and its connection to femininity and female empowerment. The album's nineteen tracks are separated into six different "gardens" (denoted in the booklet of the limited edition of the album), and are inspired by topics such as her experiences with motherhood ("Ribbons Undone"), betrayal ("Witness"), and Christian mythology ("Marys of the Sea").

The Beekeeper continues the stripped-back approach of Amos's previous album Scarlet's Walk (2002), now with strong elements of soul music, augmented by guest vocals from the London Community Gospel Choir and Amos's use of the Hammond B-3 organ. Supporting musicians on the album include frequent collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitar. Live performance was emphasized during the recording sessions, rather than having musicians record their parts separately using overdubs.

The album was a success upon its release, reaching the top five in the US and receiving generally positive reviews from critics, although some criticism was directed at its length and production. "Sleeps with Butterflies" and "Sweet the Sting" were released as singles to promote the album, with the former reaching number four on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart (her second-highest position on the chart to date). The album was supported by the Original Sinsuality and Summer of Sin tours, which ran from May through July and August through September of that year, respectively. Similar to Scarlet's Walk, a double-disc limited edition of The Beekeeper was released, containing a bonus DVD with the extra track "Garlands" and a mini-documentary about the album's songs and a "Beekeeper Mix" packet of wildflower seeds.

After the release of the covers album Strange Little Girls in 2001, Amos left Atlantic Records for Epic to release Scarlet's Walk. A primary motivation for the label switch was the company's president Polly Anthony. Amos felt Anthony would commit to promoting her work properly, something she felt Atlantic had not done with her recent releases. However, with Anthony's resignation in 2003 and Epic's merger with BMG Entertainment, she ended up in a similarly frustrating position.

Like many of Amos's releases throughout the 2000s, The Beekeeper is a concept album. Alongside the inspiration from beekeeping, female spirituality and the experiences of women in Christianity play a large role, particularly in songs such as "Original Sinsuality" and "Marys of the Sea". Songs from the album are separated into six different "gardens", detailed in the limited edition booklet: "roses and thorns", "herbs and elixirs", "the greenhouse", "the desert garden", "the orchard", and "the rock garden".

During the writing of the album, Amos was concurrently writing her first book, Piece by Piece with journalist Ann Powers, which goes into detail about the background of many tracks appearing on The Beekeeper along with other songs from her discography.

The Beekeeper was recorded throughout 2004 at Martian Engineering Studios in Cornwall, England, with the mixing handled by Amos's husband Mark Hawley and Marcel van Limbeek. The album was self-produced. In addition to Chamberlain, Evans, and Aladdin, the London Community Gospel Choir appears on the tracks "Sweet the Sting", "Mother Revolution", "Witness", and "Hoochie Woman".

Special emphasis was put on recording the tracks live in lieu of recording various parts separately and using overdubs. In some instances, multiple keyboard instruments would be recorded within the same take; the piano stool was positioned in between Amos's piano and Hammond organ, allowing her to switch between the two without the need for separate takes.