Wasp Hive

Wasp Hive is the oldest of the nine Hives of Pantala, located on the shore of Dragonfly Bay and is connected by silk bridges to Jewel Hive and Yellowjacket Hive. It was formerly ruled by Ex-Queen Wasp until the events of The Flames of Hope, in which Lady Jewel became queen of the HiveWings.

Description

Wasp Hive is the grandest and wealthiest Hive. It is decorated by numerous weavings of Wasp in a more heavy, ornate way than any other Hive. The Hive has carvings of cruel-eyed wasps by the entrances and an enormous marble statue of Wasp. It is also surrounded by greenhouses, with at least one containing the breath of evil. It is noted to be the largest of the nine hives and has structures made of solid wood.

Notable features

Temple of Clearsight

The Temple of Clearsight is the greatest and most famed structure in all of the Hives. It was formerly located elsewhere in Pantala but was damaged. It was then moved by the HiveWings to Wasp Hive and restored with sixty different types of wood. The Temple walls are built of dark oak flecked with quartz to resemble Clearsight's wings, with the roof swept into dragon-tail points at the corners, and a central dome covered in scale-like golden wood tiles. The temple is surrounded by multiple pools of koi and nooks lined with bookshelves. Shining down on the dome is a skylight that pierces through the levels of the hive above, with glass so clean it looks like a hole to the sky. It consists of many different rooms. A long carpet of dark blue silk leads to the main door. The rug is woven with golden dragonflies and green lizards in a subtle pattern. In the middle of the temple is the library, guarded by The Librarian. The library is filled with many ancient texts, including the Book of Clearsight.

Flamesilk factory

The flamesilk factory is a secret underground factory, unknown to the rest of the Hives. Once a flamesilk is discovered, they are taken to the factory, where they are forced to produce flamesilk into large cauldrons. The flamesilk is then shipped to the rest of the Hives, used for lighting, technology, glass, and more. The SilkWings were previously chained in the factory, but these were removed after "four years" of letters from Admiral.

At any given time, at least three of the ten flamesilk SilkWings will be producing flamesilk, even in the middle of the night. They will stand and raise their wrists above a massive cauldron, and their flamesilk will land in the cauldron. After a certain period, the shifts will switch. Regular SilkWings have jobs such as moving cauldrons, chopping food, or cleaning.

The flamesilk factory is currently being used as a prison for Wasp and all the other hive rulers except for Jewel.

The greenhouses

Queen Wasp owns greenhouses near her Hive and grows various plants there, including the breath of evil. Sundew and her parents, Belladonna and Hemlock, hid out in this greenhouse before meeting Blue, Cricket, and Swordtail for the first time. Later, the four returned to the greenhouse after discovering the secrets of its plant and burnt it down while everybody was distracted in the chaos of the Bloodworm Hive burning.

Throne room

The Wasp Hive throne room is on the highest level of the Hive. The throne is made out of pure obsidian and windows allow sunlight to filter in.

Wasp Hive University

Wasp Hive University is the university of the Hive. Only the brightest and strongest students were admitted and many of the students went on to serve in Wasp's elite guard. The Librarian of the Temple of Clearsight is also selected from their ranks.

History

The Lost Continent Prophecy

The Lost Continent

Wasp Hive appeared when Blue, Cricket, and Swordtail encountered Sundew and her parents in Wasp's greenhouse. The trio — alongside Sundew — then sneaked into the Temple of Clearsight to steal the Book of Clearsight. Blue eventually got captured and is taken to the flamesilk factory, where he met his father, Admiral, and reunited with Luna. Blue and his sister successfully escaped the factory thanks to his new friends.

The Hive Queen

Upon examining the substance Bumblebee hatched with, Cricket and her friends realized that its smell was familiar — they remembered it from Wasp's greenhouse. They discovered that Wasp used the plant to mind-control HiveWings, and the four later arrived at Wasp Hive to burn the greenhouse down.

The Flames of Hope

The Wasp Hive throne room was seen in the othermind's "mindspace" when it communicated with Luna. At the end of the novel, it was mentioned that Wasp and her sisters are imprisoned in the flamesilk caverns.

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Field Guides

A Guide to the Dragon World

In the SilkWing chapter, Monarch mentioned Wasp Hive in her writing about the Tree Wars.

In the HiveWing chapter, the Hive was featured in An Official Guide to the Hives.

Trivia

• It is the oldest Hive, mentioned having been built before the Tree Wars.
• Blue thinks that the Hive is full of power and soldiers and secrets.
• Swordtail mentions that Wasp Hive is not the best place to find the Chrysalis due to being the most guarded and dangerous Hive, and that they might not even have Chrysalis members there; however, it was shown that the Hive did have at least some Chrysalis members.
• Some fruit trees were allowed in Wasp Hive's greenhouses, but only with special permission.

Gallery

• 
  Ex-Queen Wasp in the Temple of Clearsight from A Guide to the Dragon World, by Joy Ang
• 
  Wasp Hive on the map of Pantala, by Mike Schley
• 
  Wasp Hive on the Hive map from A Guide to the Dragon World, by Mike Schley

References

fr:Guêpier Royal pl:Rój Os ru:Улей Осы