“King! First of the Fifth says new bees ready!”
The next day, Belissar smiled as he finished his breakfast and the morning reports. He nodded to Niobee.
“Great, we’ll head over right away.”
Belissar wasted no time walking to the First of the Fifth’s Bee Apartment. He found the aforementioned queen waiting for him, hovering in front of a row of other queens. He gave them a smile.
“Good morning, everyone. You have something to show me?”
The First of the Fifth saluted and then motioned to one of the queens.
“This, Second of the Seventh. Evolved from glowing mushrooms.”
Belissar greeted the new queen, holding out his hand. She hovered in place until Niobee flew over and brushed her antennae, then she gingerly landed on his hand. One of the original Apiary queens, she was larger than his hand, but managed to find her footing. Belissar looked over her more closely. She still had her yellow hair, but her black chitin had turned into a bright white reflecting the light of the sun. The reflection was bright enough that Belissar had trouble making out her exact body shape. Her wings also shimmered in the sun, causing flashes of light to appear every time they fluttered.
Shining Monster Bee Queen
The next bee, the Third of the Eighth, was blue and sleek. Her feet were wider and flatter than normal, while her hairs appeared a bit oily.
Swimming Monster Bee Queen
Special: Above Average
Notable Skills: Swim, Poison Sting, Brood Mother, Command Offspring
Description: A monster bee raised or evolved on Water attribute mana honey. Adapted for aquatic environments, this bee is capable of swimming and diving to forage from aquatic plants. This one is a queen that lays swimming variant offspring by default.
“So, we should put your hive near one of the ponds…or in it? Do you want to be near or in the water?”
Belissar nodded and smiled.
“Got it, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Another “Amazing! Incredible!” dance later and Belissar turned to the second to last bee. The last two were smaller than the others, clearly newly born.
“This is my Fifth Daughter. Born from gravity honey!”
Belissar raised an eyebrow as a small, dark purple queen flew to his hand. Her wings took on a purple glow as she beat them and she seemed to float through the air, gliding smoothly rather than swaying about. His hand tingled as she landed on him, feeling slightly heavier one moment, then lighter the next, with the sensation changing every few moments.
He thought to himself for a moment before shrugging and giving her a wry smile.
“So…I don’t know much about gravity. Please, tell me, what sort of hive would be best for you?”
The little queen stood completely still for a moment before starting to dance.
“Is ok! King’s hives best hives…”
The First of the Fifth then flew forward and paused, looking at him. Belissar nodded at her and she also landed on his arm, brushing antennae with her young daughter for about a minute. She did a salute dance to Belissar and took off again, leaving her daughter alone on his hand. Her daughter slowly began a different dance.
“Hive…should be stuck to ground. Might float away.”
Belissar nodded and smiled at her.
“Got it, maybe we could build one in the ground like the ones for the digging hives?”
The First of the Fifth’s Fifth Daughter looked at him for a moment before busting out into an incredibly rapid dance, causing his hand to tingle as her glowing wings beat randomly.
“Amazing! Incredible! King is best king!”
Belissar could only laugh until the First of the Fifth retrieved her and introduced the final queen. Or, rather, the final hive.
“This is Sixth Daughter. Raised on slime honey. Hive is…weird.”
Instead of a bee, Belissar was looking at a slime made of golden honey, currently a bit bigger than his head. The First of the Fifth’s Sixth Daughter was swimming around the center of the slime while other slime worker bees swarmed in a small, glowing ball around her. Some of them swam out to the edge of the big slime and broke free, a smaller ball of slime condensing around their legs as they flew off to forage.
Belissar tilted his head as he considered how to let the slime bee land on him. He walked over and tried to pick up the slime, but his hands sunk into the sticky mass. He thought for a moment before shrugging and pushing on of his hands into the slime. The slime opened up to let him in, and then the First of the Fifth’s Sixth Daughter swam to his hand and rested on his palm, dancing about happily. Belissar smiled at her.
“So…is this your hive?”
Belissar hummed. A beehive made of slime, where the whole hive apparently moved as one. That was…pretty amazing, as far as he was concerned. It did beg the question, though, of how he would build a home for them, or if they even needed one.
“Hm, so…what sort of beehouse would you want?”
Fortunately, this queen wasn’t as shy.
“King’s palaces amazing, incredible! Just need water!”