Belissar made his way to the second floor once again. He found Metsaitti leading a group of hunters, including the group that normally challenged his Tower, as they prepared for their expedition. Metsaitti noticed him and approached.
“Hello, Sacred Den Master. May I help you?”
Belissar nodded and held out his hand, holding the digging monster bee.
“Could you take this bee with you on your trip? She’s specialized for working underground, so she’ll let me see the area. Oh! You could also talk to me through her…though you might be able to just talk to me directly now too, come to think of it. I guess we should test that when you leave.”
Metsaitti nodded and held out his hand.
“Of course, Sacred Den Master. I’ll take care of her.”
The digging bee looked to Belissar and he nodded. Instead of crawling onto Metsaitti’s hand, she instead took off and then landed on his shoulder. Belissar and Metsaitti then arranged to test if Belissar could see and talk to the karnuq like with his bees when they left, and then Belissar left them to their preparations.
He rubbed his chin, because this all had given him an idea. He thought he would have to wait for digging bees to begin scouting underground until he had remembered the karnuq already planning to do just that. So, he figured he should consider some other plans and whether there were alternative ways to achieve them.
He turned to Niobee.
“Hey Niobee, could you speak with the queen from earlier, the one who evolved into a maddening monster bee? I’d like to know if she’s happy living in the Apiary and making honey there, or if she had any other thing she might want to do.”
“Ok, will ask!”
Belissar watched as Niobee flew off, then followed at a leisurely pace. In truth, a maddening monster bee queen would be most useful in the Flower Meadow, joining the soldier bee army. She could raise maddening soldiers and sprayers based on the unspecialized but highly productive mana flowers, greatly boosting their numbers among the soldier bee army. Even her workers had maddening stings, and so could help out in a pinch. If she wanted to move, having her join the Flower Meadow queens would be beneficial for the Tower’s defense.
But Belissar didn’t want to make her move if she didn’t want to, which was why he was trying to have Niobee ask her more subtly. He knew if he asked, she would immediately and enthusiastically reply regardless of what she actually felt. Besides, the Flower Meadow queens no longer acted like normal bees. They had grouped up together in the bee barracks, forming one massive hive with over a dozen queens. Normal bees could barely stand having two queens in the same hive, a situation that would generally end in violence or exile. The Apiary queens, on the other hand, kept to themselves as normal bees did. So, forcing one of the Apiary queens to join the Bee Barracks if she were not already prepared to do so could cause some discomfort to both sides, maybe even conflict. Besides, maddening honey was useful for the Sticky Honey Traps, so there was also a need to produce it in large quantities. There was a benefit to keeping her in the Apiary as well.
Niobee met Belissar about halfway towards the hive in question, zipping about in the air.
“King! Queen says loves hive King built for her! Loves making honey! No other wishes! Says King is best king!”
Belissar smiled and nodded. It seemed he managed to be subtle enough to get a good answer. And now that he confirmed that she wasn’t thinking about moving, it was time to propose the other idea he had come up with.
“Niobee, do you think the bees would be willing to share honey with each other? Specifically, would an Apiary queen be willing to share honey with the Flower Meadow queens?”
Niobee paused for a second before resuming her zipping about.
“If King asks, will! Happy to help King!”
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Belissar nodded at that.
“Got it. Let’s speak with her, then.”
“Ok!”
At first, Belissar thought he’d have to wait until the Flower Meadow’s poisonous flowers Cross-Pollinated with mana flowers, and then for the Flower Meadow hives to gather up enough of the hybrid nectar for one of their queens to evolve. But now, he realized that wasn’t the only option. The Apiary queens produced a vast surplus of honey, they were giving him sixteen trays worth a day with still plenty for their hives. So, Belissar wondered, why wait for the Flower Meadow queens to produce their own honey before evolving? Now that there was a maddening queen and a medicinal queen that could produce their respective honey types in bulk, couldn’t he have them just share the specialized honey types with the Flower Meadow queens? The Flower Meadow queens could then use the honey to evolve their workers and soldiers in much greater quantities then they could otherwise. A Flower Meadow queen might even be able to evolve herself. Meanwhile, the Apiary queens could continue to devote themselves purely to honey production, and pass on the benefit of any specialized honeys they developed.
Belissar did wonder whether it was fair to take honey from the Apiary queens just because they produced a lot, but then he remembered they were each giving him a tray of honey every day. Besides, he was a beekeeper, taking some honey for his own purposes was part of the deal. Worst came to worst, he could just give the trays he took to the Flower Meadow queens himself. In fact, he should probably start doing that anyways. The maddening honey trays were definitely starting to accumulate.
Belissar arrived at the hive and the maddening queen crawled out and saluted him. He greeted her and then got right into it.
“I have a favor to ask. Would you be willing to share some of your honey with the Flower Meadow queens? It would really help out if they could raise some more maddening soldiers with your help. Consider that the honey you give to me each day.”
The maddening queen paused, before saluting once more. Belissar smiled at her.
“Thank you, it will help a lot. Let me know if there’s anything you need, or if you need more flowers or something.”
The maddening queen quickly declined but Belissar shook his head.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you so please, allow me to give you something. Hard work should be rewarded.”
The maddening queen paused and fell still. She glanced at Niobee, who flew over and brushed their antennae together. Then, slowly, the queen began to dance.
“…mana flowers? Next to hive?”
Belissar smiled and nodded.
“Sure, as soon as I can.”
The maddening queen paused once more, and then burst out into a max speed dance. It was so fast the dances were getting jumbled but Belissar definitely caught the “KING BEST KING!” parts and chuckled.
“No, thank you for helping out.”
Belissar thought a bit as they left the queen to her work. He then nodded and made his way over to the medicinal queen, repeating his request and offer. She had much the same response as the maddening queen.
Belissar smiled as he walked away. A vision for the future was starting to come together in his mind. A Tower full of happy bees…happy bees that worked together. Apiary queens that gave their all producing all sorts of diverse and magical honeys, which they offered to the Flower Meadow army that kept them all safe. That setup would even solve a growing concern of Belissar’s. The Dirt Tunnels and the Orchard both had plants and flowers that he could not plant in either the Flower Meadow or the Apiary. Up until now, he had been trying to ensure that both the Apiary and Flower Meadow queens had access to every flower type he had available…but would that be practical going forward? As of now, the first floor lacked the Dirt Tunnels plants and the third floor lacked an Orchard. He couldn’t resolve that situation because right now as his mana was sitting at a grand total of zero. His future mana was accounted for as well, he now had two mana flower nodes he promised to the donating Apiary queens, the karnuq who could probably use a few more resources, and more nests for the queens that would come from the bumblebee spawner.
If he continued to try and insist that every hive have every flower available, the situation would only get worse. What would happen as he acquired new rooms that might have unique flower types? What if those rooms were incredibly mana expensive? Or what if he just didn’t have the room limit to have every room type on every floor?
But if the queens began to share honey with one another, that would solve the problem. Queens in different rooms could specialize in their local flowers, or even evolve themselves like the maddening and medicinal queens had, and then just exchange their products with one another. Then, Belissar would only have to give one set of queens access to a given flower type for its honey to be available across his Tower. He could specialize the first floor rooms for defense without worrying if the Flower Meadow queens could raise the bee types necessary to defend them. He could expand new floors with new Apiaries without needing to completely rebuild every room and resource plant node like he had for the bumblebees.
He nodded to himself. He was no longer a mere beekeeper, but a dungeon master. His was no longer a mere apiary, but a Tower of the Gods. And his bees were no longer regular bees, but magical monster bees who could speak with him directly. It was time for them all to elevate into something more. The bees had already been doing so on their own, so if Belissar was to be their king, it was time he helped out with that.