Advanced 2-Block Beehives

[DukeLeto42]

I know variations have been suggested before, and my particular suggestion is probably nothing new, but I'll put forth a suggestion for a second tier of beehives for the player:

A lot of modern beehives operate as a 2-part (and so here, 2-block) structure - two stacked boxes with internal frames for the bees to build off. Bees naturally live in the bottom box, the queen laying eggs there and workers storing necessary honey supplies, and then the colony stores excess honey in the top box. Because the top box is effectively nothing but spare honeycomb, the colony remains stable even after harvesting and honey can be removed and process with (by comparison to a skep) minimal disruption to the bees.

In-game, you'd have a bottom block that runs largely like a normal skep, but if a top block is placed above it the hive will slowly fill up a top block with honeycomb. The player can then remove and replace the top box at will without angering the hive. Production could be slightly slower than a skep, but would come with the advantages of not having to replace skeps or replenish hives, to say nothing of avoiding angry bees.

[majestik]

That's why I love From Golden Combs, their Ceramic Hive is really great in that extent. I don't even bother to go for the Langstroth (a bit complex for my taste), the ceramic one is all I need for my wax/honey consumption.