It’s like cornhole for beekeepers!
A great way to pass the time while your club president “drones” on at the monthly business meeting!
The game board consists of 63 cells that are color coded as Honey, Pollen and Brood. The board should be leaned back about 45 degrees. The playing pieces consist of 12 each of 2 teams; the Bees (smiley faces) and the Flowers (multicolored).
Game play: Teams (1 or 2 players per team) stand at an agreed distance, about 6-8 feet back. At the beginning of each round, the team with the low score calls out “Honey”, “Pollen” or “Brood”. This determines the target area for that round. Players take turns tossing one bag at a time into a cell. Partial cells are out of play.
Scoring: The score is tallied at the end of each round. A single bag in a target cell scores 1 point. If any cell has 2 or more mixed type bags, no points are awarded. 2 or more of the same type in a cell scores as follows: In Honey it’s called a Capped Cell and scores 3 points. In Pollen it’s called Bee Bread and scores 3 points. In Brood, 2 or more of one type is called a Laying Worker and scores -3.
After each round, the difference between the two scores is awarded to the winner of the round. The first team to 32 points wins! Ties are broken with additional round(s) as needed. Sometimes the bags don’t land perfectly inside a cell. Just try to be fair. It’s only a game!
Modified Play: There are 4 plugs and 6 Drones. At the beginning of each game, players may agree to use some or all of them. Players take turns placing plugs and/or Drones strategically on the board. They remain in place for the duration of the game. Plugs completely block a cell. Drones block pretty well and count as a mixed cell if a team’s bag should manage to get in.
Note: Remember that comb is delicate! Please be gentle with the whole board but especially the comb (it’s thin, 3D printed material).
Strategy ideas:
-Consider using plugs just above your favorite target area if you tend to throw high.
-If your opponent has several Capped Cells or Bee Bread cells in an area, consider trying to throw into those cells to cancel their big score before the end of the round.
-Remember, if it’s a Brood round, you’re trying NOT to get 2 in a cell!
-If you know a part of the board your opponent likes, place drones there!
-To help score a round, first remove all bags from mixed cells and non-target cells since they are always zero. Then score singles and last score Capped Cells, Bee Bread or Laying Workers.
Scoring examples:
The Forager Game: An alternative to play would be for each team to pick a target area at the beginning of the game; like the Bees only target Pollen and the Flowers only target Honey. This gets interesting when the plugs and Drones are added to the board!
Extended play, house rules, etc: Since this is a brand new game, ideas are welcome for better rules or even entirely different games on the board!