Baconfry
Terrarian
So I recently (well, not really, not anymore, haha) delivered a passionate lecture on the reproduction of bees. This was on Wall of Steel's thread, which I admittedly made a sticky mess out of. Sorry. But it did give me some inspiration.
So how might this huge amount of scientific knowledge be incorporated into Terraria?
Larva
15% bait power
Dropped from naturally-generated hive blocks, captured with bug net.
This will be a new passive NPC, behaving much like a worm. (Maybe add a few lines of code that prevent bees from killing them, because that would be stupid.)
Queen Larva
30% bait power
Crafted by hand with Larva and either...
1. Slime Crown. Going this way makes it viable for the Queen Larva to become a replacement for the Abeemination as a boss-summoning item. Although it casually references real-life royal jelly, it's not as obvious as in #3.
2. Gold/Platinum Crown. This is a slightly cheaper and faster way to craft the item than #1, because it requires neither gel nor a Demon Altar, and can also be viably used to replace the Abeemination. However, it misses the important reference to Royal Jelly, and is scientifically inaccurate.
3. Royal Jelly (Dropped by King Slime). Going this way makes it viable for the Queen Larva to become a high-quality bait item, as long as a good quantity of Royal Jelly is dropped. It also makes the reference to actual bee reproduction more apparent. However, it is the most labor-intensive method, requiring an actual boss kill. It also makes it less likely to replace the Abeemination, and gives Queen Bee-exclusive content to King Slime's drop table.
Alternative to being dropped by King Slime:
Crafted with Bee Wax and Gel. This makes Queen Larva even more viable as bait, because you'll get at least 16 from a Queen Bee kill. However, it misses the reference to King Slime, who is literally "Royal Jelly".
Best of both worlds: Royal Jelly can both be dropped by King Slime and crafted with Gel and Bee Wax. This is probably my favorite option, because either way you have to kill a boss in order to obtain the Queen Larva, but you still need to kill Queen Bee to craft the Beehive, which basically makes it so you never have to visit the Hive biome again.
Beehive
Crafting station
Ingredients:
30 Hive Blocks
10 Bee Wax (the new QB drop)
20 Wood
Queen Larva
Crafted at Sawmill
Now, what does it do?
First, it satisfies the requirement for crafting Bottled Honey with Bottles.
Second, you can right-click it and it will release a Larva for you to catch (1 minute cooldown). And you can use it as bait. Not as good as Fireflies or Worms, but better than Snails, and farmable.
Third, it creates an area around it where herbs have a small chance to bloom even when conditions aren't met. Because pollination.
Finally, you can left-click it while holding an Empty Bucket to fill it with honey. A lot less messy than other infinite generators.
While I'm at it, I'll also suggest that the Merchant should sell Bottles for like 20 copper, because why not.
There we go. Just another of my brainwaves. What do you think?
Bees are eusocial insects. The only reproductive female in the colony is the queen. A hive functions as a reproductive unit by producing more queens, which establish new hives.
Therefore, you cannot reproduce bees by catching workers. You either have to capture a queen, or obtain a bee larva and feed it protein-rich royal jelly, causing it to develop into a queen. Queens need male drones in order to produce worker bees. Thankfully, their unfertilized eggs already develop into drones by parthenogenesis, and a single queen can produce a working colony from there.
So how might this huge amount of scientific knowledge be incorporated into Terraria?
Larva
15% bait power
Dropped from naturally-generated hive blocks, captured with bug net.
This will be a new passive NPC, behaving much like a worm. (Maybe add a few lines of code that prevent bees from killing them, because that would be stupid.)
Queen Larva
30% bait power
Crafted by hand with Larva and either...
3. Royal Jelly (Dropped by King Slime). Going this way makes it viable for the Queen Larva to become a high-quality bait item, as long as a good quantity of Royal Jelly is dropped. It also makes the reference to actual bee reproduction more apparent. However, it is the most labor-intensive method, requiring an actual boss kill. It also makes it less likely to replace the Abeemination, and gives Queen Bee-exclusive content to King Slime's drop table.
Alternative to being dropped by King Slime:
Crafted with Bee Wax and Gel. This makes Queen Larva even more viable as bait, because you'll get at least 16 from a Queen Bee kill. However, it misses the reference to King Slime, who is literally "Royal Jelly".
Best of both worlds: Royal Jelly can both be dropped by King Slime and crafted with Gel and Bee Wax. This is probably my favorite option, because either way you have to kill a boss in order to obtain the Queen Larva, but you still need to kill Queen Bee to craft the Beehive, which basically makes it so you never have to visit the Hive biome again.
Beehive
Crafting station
Ingredients:
30 Hive Blocks
10 Bee Wax (the new QB drop)
20 Wood
Queen Larva
Crafted at Sawmill
Now, what does it do?
First, it satisfies the requirement for crafting Bottled Honey with Bottles.
Second, you can right-click it and it will release a Larva for you to catch (1 minute cooldown). And you can use it as bait. Not as good as Fireflies or Worms, but better than Snails, and farmable.
Third, it creates an area around it where herbs have a small chance to bloom even when conditions aren't met. Because pollination.
Finally, you can left-click it while holding an Empty Bucket to fill it with honey. A lot less messy than other infinite generators.
While I'm at it, I'll also suggest that the Merchant should sell Bottles for like 20 copper, because why not.
There we go. Just another of my brainwaves. What do you think?