Trace Bee

Written for WA Summer Camp 2021 - Prompt 4

Species: Tell us about a species of working animal in your setting.

The Trace Bees are a particular species of honeybee native to [a region closest to] the [Shams Desert]. Aside from the orange hue that distinguishes them from regular honeybees, their produce is quite distinctive as well. Instead of the flowers that attract their cousins, Trace Bees may take to any and everything, thus producing different tasting honey. A wild Trace Beehive will always produce batches of different tasting honey while trained hives will always taste similarly.
Although they're sought-after for training to produce specific tasting honey, i.e. bronze tasting or exercised-men tasting, Trace Bees can also be trained for other purposes. From wanted fugitives to animals, they are used to creatively pursue targets. There was once a merchant family that used them to locate jewel stones mines. Sadly, as the family didn't train them out of the taste, when the mine turned bare the hive died from hunger.
They also used to be trained to find [Living Terrors] or people affected by Torment when Dream Turn was considered legal.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Coloured orange (#eb5e28) interspersed with black, the Trace Bee's body is divided into three main sections: head, thorax, and abdomen.
The Crowned Trace Bee develops more orange pigment around the crown of its head during the maturing period. That happens as a consequence of only feeding on Royal Jelly. The abdomen is larger and more elongated, to provide more space for the better developed reproductive organs; it is twice the size of its head and thorax put together.
The Collared Trace Bee develops a more pronounced fluffy fur around its thorax, also pigmented orange. The abdomen is more rounded than a Crowned Trace Bee's; it is the exact size of its head and thorax put together.

Genetics and Reproduction

As much as attraction to certain traces can be an acquired taste, it can also be passed down from the Crowned Trace Bee to its Collared Trace Bees. In the wild, it is not unheard of Crowned Trace Bees to combine their hives to diversify their tastes by introducing new honey.
Reproduction is another aspect that set this species apart from their cousins. The Crowned Trace Bee lays around 2.000 eggs a day through asexual reproduction. The eggs are an extension of the Crowned Bee, thus having a special frequency that resonates specifically with those from the same hive.

Growth Rate & Stages

Trace Bees' eggs take 3 to 4 days to hatch, then go through larvae and pupal periods being fed with honey, royal jelly, and other liquids until they grow into full-fledged adult bees.
The Crowned Trace Bee goes through the larvae and pupal (maturing) period in roughly 14 days and is only fed royal jelly, even through adulthood. Its mature life expectancy is of 3 to 5 years. Near the end of its life, the Crowned Bee stops laying eggs and is usually quickly overthrown. New Crowned Trace Bees resonate differently from most of the hive and finish establishing their own frequency within the first 12 weeks of life, when they leave with the Collared Trace Bees that answer to the new frequency and form a new hive.
The Collared Trace Bee goes through the larvae and pupal (maturing) period in roughly 21 days. It is fed royal jelly only for the first two days after hatching, then honey and other liquids throughout life. Its mature life expectancy is of 6 to 8 weeks. Near the end of its life, it fails to resonate with the hive in the proper frequency resulting in frequent hunger. They finish learning the queen's frequency 1 week after maturing.

Ecology and Habitats

Although they can construct a hive anywhere, the Trace Bees prefer to inhabit places where they can escape the excruciating heat of the desert surroundings. In more developed parts of the city, it is possible to find hive glued to marble walls under some shade.

Biological Cycle

Because of their tendency to look for cooler places, they are more active during autumn and winter seasons. Also, they come out in search of food source more during the night than during the day; most of the hive is nocturnal, but there's always at least a third of it that is diurnal.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Enhanced static receptors that reacts better to surrounding currents. Enhanced sight and scent that permits the bee to track its target more easily.

Conservation Status

Partly protected. Although not even near extinction level numbers, the increase in training or domesticating these bees for specific tasting honey has alarmed the government. As the number of wild hives decreases, some land has been delimited as an area of preservation of the species. There, it is illegal to capture (poach) any bees or hives.

Related Ethnicities

• Ram