Nectar veins
Underground nectar veins mature again and replenish a colony's reserve.
Nectar veins lie in chambers of the forest's shared underworld. A ripe vein yields a portable portion, but nectar does not satisfy ordinary hunger. It is carried as separate cargo to the nest and added to a reserve for new foundations or the replacement of a lost queen. Ordinary births use food instead.
A shared depth
Veins belong to no single nest. Several entrances and colonies may reach the same underworld, but only tunnels actually dug and passable lead to a source. A ripe vein therefore creates a transport task involving access, carrying capacity, an escort and a safe return route. A nectar parcel occupies the same single cargo slot as food or a stone.
Ripening, not depletion
Harvest does not erase the vein. After a rest period, its stores grow back to a fixed limit before another portion is offered. The visible site remains a lasting destination, but the harvest is limited in time. An early return may find the vein still unripe although the chamber itself has not changed.
Foragers came to the same chamber three times. Only the first carried an orange glow on the way back.
