POBee 95.1 - Generosi-Bee

Name:The Bee Dungeon Author:
POBee 95.1 - Generosi-Bee

The next day, Belissar made his way to the new Flower Meadow. He arrived just as a new monster bumblebee queen was crawling out the spawner.

Monster Bumblebee Queen Spawner

Monsters: Monster Bumblebee Queen

Cooldown: 23/24 hours

Current Monsters Spawned: 2/4

The bumblebee queen spawner was identical to the monster bee queen spawner, spawning one queen per day until it reached four. Belissar thus greeted the new queen and spent the last mana to build her a new Bee Nest. The queen responded by zipping circles around him.

After that, he made his way over to the karnuq. Right at the entrance of the second floor, Chief Rohsuak had gathered a group of karnuq. She turned to him and nodded.

“Welcome, Sacred Den Master Belissar. May I introduce you to Rakenliuk? He’s our construction expert?”

Belissar turned his gaze to the karnuq man who towered over him. Rakenliuk shook his head.

“Expert’s a strong word, we’ve rarely had to chance to build anything lasting. But I’ll do my best, Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar shook his head.

“Ah, it’s, um, fine. I don’t really know what I’m doing either, so any help will help.”

Soon after, Belissar led the karnuq back to the first floor and the Flower Meadow. He pointed around the Bee Barracks.

“So, I was thinking a ditch in front of this building with a palisade behind it? Um, unless you know of anything better to help guard this area?”

Rakenliuk slowly nodded.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Belissar then turned to find the soldier bees gathering around him. He smiled at them.

“We’re going to improve the defenses of your home, they’re going to help. Want to help too?”

The soldier bees saluted...and a moment later the air filled with hundreds of beating wings as the entire soldier bee army ceased their training and returned to the Bee Barracks. Belissar turned back to find the karnuq staring with wide eyes.

“Yes. Was paying attention, right?”

The Firstborn stood still, and then began a dance of gratitude.

“Thanks, helps a lot! Is perfect, even. How can repay?”

The First of the Fifth stood still for a moment herself before slowly dancing back.

“Protect King and hive of hives. Will be bringing every day. Use to make strong army, ok?”

The Firstborn didn’t even know what to dance. But, eventually, she gathered herself and marched firmly through her steps, giving the First of the Fifth a salute dance.

“Thank you. Will not let you down.”

With that, the First of the Fifth took her leave. The Firstborn and the Flower Meadow queens gathered and distributed the honey throughout their hives. Empty cells were now filled to the brim. Whereas it normally took several days to gather the honey for a single maddening soldier or sprayer, now each of the queens was laying a soldier egg in a cell full of the purple-tinted honey. The medicinal honey was even rarer, and the Firstborn used her batch to lay a new generation of workers that would ensure the health of her hive.

And then, with the normal mana honey, she prepared a large cell for her daughter. Her daughter hesitated but the Firstborn brushed her antennae.

“Go ahead. Have plenty of reserves now, will be ok.”

Her daughter slowly saluted and then curled up into the cell that was much too large for her...for now. The Firstborn watched until her workers had covered up the cell before walking away. She aimlessly wandered the barracks for a moment.

The First of the Fifth had once again blazed a new trail. The Firstborn had made deals with her before, exchanging flowers for honey. The Fourth of the Seventh and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had built a joint hive, working together for a common purpose, and the Flower Meadow queens had followed suit. The Flower Meadow queens joined their armies and exchanged command of their soldiers to one another. But in all of these cases both parties benefited. They gave in expectation of receiving in turn.

Now, the First of the Fifth and the other Apiary queens had given them vast quantities of honey...and asked for nothing in response. They worked for the hive of hives not as two rival queens coming to an agreement, but as workers worked to support their queens. They gave without expecting to receive, because there was work to be done and so they did it. They demonstrated how a queen in a hive of hives should truly behave.

The Firstborn was humbled yet again.

She began to turn her mind to what her response should be. One could say the Flower Meadow queens were already acting that way as they had taken on the defense of the hive of hives upon their shoulders, but the Firstborn was not satisfied with merely that. She considered how she, too, could contribute to the hive of hives. She would never catch the Apiary queens in honey production, so sharing resources was not possible. So, was there something that her hive could do that the Apiary couldn’t?

Her eyes turned towards the King as he worked with the karnuq...and the soldier bee army that had naturally started to assist him. She watched as the karnuq dug deep trenches into the ground while the soldier bees carried large pieces of wood. She remembered the King’s efforts to build the barracks...and how they had been able to assist him.

And she started to realize...soldier bees could do far more than simply sting, couldn’t they? And if there was work to be done that a bee could do...then that is what that bee should do.

She determined she had something to bring up to the evening gathering of the barracks queens.