How much coal should i place for this beehive kiln?

[Chuckerton]

Nowhere is it listed how much i actually need for the beehive kiln. I can place piles under it, almost full piles until they start spilling a bit, but i doubt i need a whole stack of charcoal under each block for this, that would be insanely expensive. Would just a few chunks of charcoal under each tile be fine or do i actually need to completely fill each tile with a full stack of whatever fuel i use?

[idiomcritter]

(ahem) 9 is the answer.

 

just kidding.... kinda of

 

from my own experiment, 1 layer of fuel under the 9 grates is enough to fire up the beehive.

As to whether that will be enough? don't know, guess it depends on the fuel and the amount of raw clay loaded into the kiln?

sounds like more vs science is needed, feel free to post results

[Chuckerton]

I did end up just placing 6 or 7 charcoal on each tile, an even loading on each tile. It ended up instantly cooking and damaging the beehive kiln. I think that was a bug, and i also think you shouldnt use charcoal, due to price and this exact problem of figuring out how much you need. It doesnt say you can, but you can just use peat, probably also firewood. Maybe ill test it out at some point but i have a good plenty of peat deposits nearby so ill just use those. 

[FlareFluffsune]

I'm new to the bee kiln thing as I've only just built one lately but my experience I was firing a 3x3x3 area of fire bricks, and I used black coal. It seemed to finish firing them after 2 units of coal I believe, which was quite a waste of 9 stacks of 16.

[TechzAtles]

For the beehive kiln, I've been using firewood. Three layers per pile (three logs tall/block or 24 firewood per stack (216 firewood per fire)) I've found is the cheapest you can fuel it, given that firewood is renewable and there's no need to dip into precious charcoal as it offers no benefit beyond a slightly faster start time but with a 2 day firing time regardless of fuel, firewood wins. Hope this helps others!