POBee 77.1 - The New-Bees
The Firstborn crawled through her section of the fortress. The Flower Meadow queens had finished moving their hives a while ago and had fully settled in. Everywhere the Firstborn looked, worker bees from many hives crawled, hovered, and buzzed about with their countless tasks. Foragers brought in new nectar, medicinal bees tended the brood, and she even saw a group of scouts dancing with workers from the Fourth of the Seventh, passing on their knowledge of the beyond. And, of course, workers beat their wings across trays full of honey of different types. The slightly golden glow of mana honey, the bluish-green tone of healing herb honey, the purple of the mad honey, and a few more. There was a small section devoted to the red honey from the flame radishes, though that honey seemed to generate its own heat. They could only keep a small amount of it to prevent it from growing dangerously hot, threatening to melt its wax containers, or worse.
The honey from the newest flowers were currently mixed together. The Flower Meadow queens were aware that not every flower type could raise a unique type of bee. They were also aware that the Apiary queens would certainly categorize and experiment with each of the new flowers and determine which ones could. So, they decided to wait, and focus on maximum honey production instead. They were the hive of hives, honey was the Apiary’s specialty, battle was theirs.
Besides, right now, they needed the extra nutrition.
The Firstborn saw and greeted the Second Second of the First as they both crawled over the top of their trays before she moved down to her destination. In the center of one of the trays was a particularly large cell, currently covered in wax, as well as countless smaller ones. The wax cover on the biggest one was just starting to split. Then, two mandibles pierced through, and the medicinal workers got to work. They helped pull apart the wax cover so the cell’s occupant could crawl out.
The Firstborn’s First Daughter, a princess ready for her nuptial flight. She crawled out of the cell and then the workers poured over her, helping clean her off as she beat and dried her wings. Once she was clean, the Firstborn approached her. Her daughter turned to face her and then began a salute, indicating she was ready to go.
But the Firstborn had other ideas. She gently brushed the young queen’s antennae with her own before stepping back and beginning her dance.
“Go, wait for drones. Then, return here.”
Her daughter looked up to her before beginning a slow and unsteady dance.
“Return?”