The next few days were a bit of a grind for Belissar. First, he had to separate all the different parts of the flax from each other. He stored the seeds, since they could be processed into linseed oil. That could have uses in his woodworking and his fire traps, or even in his diet if he had surplus. Then he had to separate the useful fibers from the straw and inner pitch. Both were steps that were noticeably difficult for a lone person who lacked the normal tools one might use for the job.
And the little scrapes and scratches he got processing the flax with his hand also did not improve his opinion of the task.
And when that was done, it would have to retted and dried and scutched...
Belissar was starting to feel that the cuts in his tunic weren’t that big a deal after all. He may not have had many fond memories of his neighbors...but he did miss being able to trade wax and mead for already processed cloth.
He broke up the monotony with some construction planning. He may have skipped out on beehives as a room feature, but he still wanted to build some beehouses for the queens that didn’t have them yet. The Apiary itself had more queens than beehouses once its spawners had filled up to their max, and none of the Flower Meadow queens had a beehouse at all. The only reason he hadn’t gotten started was that he was still thinking about modifications to the design.
The Flower Meadow queens, after all, were no normal bees at this point. The queens and the soldiers bees were far larger than any mundane bee could ever grow. At the very minimum, Belissar would need to build the houses far larger to accommodate both the existing soldiers and any future growth.
And beyond that there was the question of purpose. Belissar’s current beehouses were a tool for a beekeeper. The trays made it easy for him to gather honeycomb from the hive, or to check on the status of the bees. That was helpful for the Apiary beehives, which were designed with that same purpose in mind. But the Flower Meadow colonies were different. Their focus was on defense, not honey production. So, the question was...how could Belissar adjust his beehouses to support them? Should he try to make his beehouses less accessible and more defensible? Did they even need trays and removable lids? Did they even need a beehouse at all?
All Belissar knew at this stage was that he didn’t want to make the standard beehouses for them, but working out the details was slow going. He was no castle builder, and defensible beehouses went against the very idea of beehouses in the first place, so he was charting out new territory here in more ways than one.
But one thing he could distract himself with...work on right away was a fence for the entrance. The bees had proven they could handle a shade alone...but there was no reason not to make use of all those traps he bought. If he could make a tall fence leading directly to the first pit trap, they could handle shades without putting anyone at risk at all.
Belissar tried to process some larger branches and smaller tree trunks into tall stakes, and plant them in the ground. He figured he needed something a bit more substantial as a shade would probably just jump over a smaller fence. It was...not working particularly well, if he was entirely honest. Digging a deep enough hole with a small enough diameter was proving difficult for a solo worker who lacked any sort of digging tools. And then there was the matter of getting those holes close enough to form a useful barrier. He even tried using the Pit Traps...but even their smallest size was still too large for this case. He couldn’t put them close to the entrance in any case.
So, Belissar was left back at his flax processing for the most part. That is...until one morning when he went to gather honeycomb from the Apiary beehouses...
He found the queen of the closest hive waiting for him at the entrance of her beehouse. She did a little dance of greeting once he approached. He tilted his head.
“You want to show me something?”
She signaled yes and then flew up to the lid of the beehouse. Belissar opened it and pulled out the trays that were ready for harvest. He normally just took one a day from each hive. He scarcely needed nine trays of honeycomb a day, much less more, but figured he should clear the way so they could keep making more at the very least. But this time, the queen seemed to want him to take all of them, so he did.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The first tray was a tray of mana honeycomb as usual...but something seemed different. The mana concentration in the honey was unlike any Belissar had seen before, the tray felt warm to the touch. Belissar thought for a moment before realizing this honey must have been made with nectar from the mana flowers.
And that gave him a clue as to what the other two might be. He reached out for one of them that had a slightly green and blue tint to it. He was surprised, however, when he picked up one of the trays and words appeared before him.
Healing Herb Mana Honeycomb Tray
- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing healing herb mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of healing herbs, this honey has a slight medicinal and healing effects.
He knew honey had some medicinal qualities to it, but this was something else. Mana honey with a...slight healing effect? If Belissar didn’t know any better, he’d say that sounded like one of those healing potions from the stories. The healing potions that were supposed to be poisonous if drank by anyone not blessed by the gods, and that could only be the product of foul magics otherwise.
But well, Belissar was blessed by one of the gods. He could feel the mana inside the honey, so he knew it was magical in every definition of the word. So perhaps...the stories weren’t so far-fetched after all. If so, he could be holding an actual treasure in his hand. Something that could heal wounds in an instant, before his very eyes, or even restore lost limbs and mortal blows. Well, the word “slight” seemed to imply the effects might be a bit more muted than in the stories, but Belissar would be glad to have something like this available regardless.
He had one final tray left to check, one with a slight purple tint to it. And, well, at this point he had a pretty good idea of what it was.
Mad Mana Honey Honeycomb Tray
- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing mad mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of toxic flowers, this honey has accumulated a significant concentration of neurotoxins. Causes intoxication and hallucinogenic effects when consumed, in excessive quantities may cause paralysis as well.
Belissar nodded. As he thought, this was the honey produced from the poisonous flowers. The old beekeeper had told him stories of mad honey, though he never thought he might encounter it himself. He decided to be very careful with where he left this tray.
He looked at the queen, who was hovering in the air and staring at him. He smiled at her.
“Great work, this is amazing.”
She froze, dipping as her wings stopped beating for a second. Then she began to fly around rapidly before rushing back into the beehouse. Belissar chuckled and took the trays. He kept the mana honeycomb inside the house, then took the healing herb and mad honey trays with him. He had some ideas he wanted to try...
----------------------------------------
Sticky Mad Honey Trap
Type: Bee, Trap
Honey equipped: Mad Mana Honey
Mana Upkeep: 3 (1 if honey provided)
Description: Spreads sticky honey onto a target or area, hindering target’s mobility. Upkeep reduced if dungeon has a source of honey. Effects may vary with type of honey. Currently equipped with Mad Mana Honey, may cause intoxication, hallucination, or even paralysis if ingested, or contacted for too long.
Belissar smiled as he confirmed his idea would work. When he brought the mad mana honey to one of the Pit Traps, he got an option to add it to the Sticky Honey Trap installed at the bottom. It would add an extra layer of defense to the trap, though it consumed an entire tray of the honey. Belissar would have to get to work installing it into the rest.
After that he took the healing herb honeycomb to the Flower Meadow. He found the wounded monster bee soldier standing by the entrance to her hive, unable to participate in the drills of her flying sisters. She began a dance of salute as Belissar approached. He smiled and let her finish before holding out the honeycomb.
“Here, try some of this.”
The soldier bee froze and stood still for a moment just staring up at Belissar. Then...she slowly began to crawl towards the honeycomb. She slowly extended her mouth and took a small sip. Belissar chuckled.
“Go ahead and drink up.”
She continued drinking slowly but did as Belissar said, until a bunch of the cells were empty.
“How’s that? Feel anything?”
The bee paused for a second before dancing a hesitant no. Belissar watched her for a minute but nothing changed, and her lost wing did not regrow. He let out a soft sigh.
“Well, it was worth a shot. Let me know if you feel anything or want some more.”
The bee danced a slow salute to him, and then he began walking back to the Apiary. It seemed the healing herb honey wasn’t exactly the limb-restoring potions of the stories, but it was better to have it than not.
With that, he had nothing pressing left to do, and so slowly returned to the flax processing...