Colony Miinu

Colony Miinu are a special type of Miinu base on eusocial insects, who have a biological and hierarchal structure that differs from normal Miinu.

Biology

Types of Colony Miinu

Only Miinu kin of eusocial insects can have a colony structure. These species include;

• Bees
• Ants
• Wasps
• Termites

Differences from Solitary Miinu

Colony Miinu are biologically still very similar to the general population, but the have adopted some of the reproductive traits of their kin. Most colony Miinu are infertile workers or caretakers for the hive, with only the Queens and Drones having reproductive abilites.
Queens are often the tallest in appearance and usually rule over a colony. They are able to hold the sperm of their mate in their bodies indefinitely, and can use this to produce hundreds of eggs. Most of these will be workers, but a few may hatch into Princesses (baby queens) or drones.
Drones are male colony miinu. They are rare and are genetic clones of their queen. Outside of that, they don't actually differ from most miinu biologically, but their role in a hive is still very important.
Workers are the infertile daughters of the hive, and often appear shorter than the Queens and Drones, being about half the height of the queen even at full adulthood. This often makes them shorter than most miinu and child-like in appearance. This makes them easily spotted roaming a city, especially since they rarely work alone and will usually sisters with them.
All of the workers are genetically identical, with only their pheromones differentiating them. Of course that doesn't stop them from having cosmetic differences like different hair, uniforms, scars, etc, but most tend to have a uniform look regardless.

Naming Traditions

Family names

The will typically name their children after themselves. Workers of the same generation will all have the same name with a number as an identifier. It's usually only Queens and Drones who get unique names, and even then they will often be named after their parents anyway.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Colony Miinu have a hive structure that resembles a royal family. Queens and Drones are often treated like royalty and given more respect and special treatment. Queens will often be trained to properly lead and defend their hive, where as Drones tend to be a bit spoiled, since they have no duties outside of providing genetic material to a Queen.
Hives run on a matriarchy, meaning only the women can hold a seat of power. Queens can have an official union with Drones, but they will remain a Prince. Only in rare situations where there the Queen has perished and there is no heiress fit for the throne can there ever be a 'king' of a hive, and once a Princess can take over, he must step down as king.
A colony with no Queen and no heirs is doomed to fall, as Queens are the only ones who can reproduce. Hives with no Queen, Princesses, or Drones are called orphaned hives, and the workers will usually disband to find new hives to integrate themselves with.

Art & Architecture

The hive will often have a physical hive that they consider their home. This will often look like a normal hive or nest from the outside as to not draw attention from humans, but on the inside they will have intricately designed halls and tunnels.
Ants and Termites will often have massive, sprawling underground cities for their workers to live in, where as Wasps and Bees will have intricate castle-like architecture made of wax, lined with pods designed for storage, nurseries, or living in.
Queens and Drones will often have the largest rooms in the hive, not just due to their power and privilege's, but as a place for newly laid eggs to be stored until they are taken to the nursery.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Eggs usually look identical when they are first laid and will all be stored in the same nursery until the fetus grows large enough to identify their gender. Princesses and Princes are taken to a safe, secluded part of the hive so they can hatch. When a queen hatches, it is a momentous occasion for the hive, and the birth is usually celebrated.

Coming of Age Rites

Workers will often have just a small party with the assigned caretakers when they they have their first metamorphosis. Afterwards they will usually be assigned beginners work before slowly moving on to harder stuff when they reach full adulthood.
Queens and Drones will usually have a hive-wide party celebrating their metamorphosis day, with lots of food and dancing. Afterwards, they can begin courting a drone so they may start a colony of their own, or they can wait at home and take over the throne of their current colony.
Usually, only the eldest princess can take over the thrown, and most tend to do so, while their sisters either stay in the hive or go start their own. Trouble arises when two princesses are born at the same time. Rarely, twins can form in an egg and hatch. If they both survive to their metamorphosis day, they are made to duel each other to the death. This practice has begun to die out in some hives, instead having a less barbaric fight, but more traditional hives will require only one Queen to be left alive.

Common Taboos

It is shameful to betray or abandon your hive, especially so as a Queen or worker. Loners are colony miinu who abandon the hive to strike out on their own. For the most part they can usually find a village to settle in and live a normal life, but will be looked down on by colony society. Loners are often ostracized by hives, and since they tend to rule over the major cities, they can make life for loners difficult.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

Hives usually are a woman centric society. Not only are Queens the leaders and highly respected individuals, but most workers are biologically female and identify as such. Meanwhile, Drones tend to be rather spoiled, delicate things who don't have a lot of responsibility. This leads to the perception as woman being the stronger, more capable gender.
There is a phenomenon of workers identifying as non-binary or third gender, do to their clear genetic differences between the fertile Queens.

Major organizations

Hives typically are the ruling class of major Miinu settlements, especially those surrounding Fossil Stones. Queens of these hives are particularly territorial, and it's the workers of these hives that run everything from construction, farming, & military, thus major cities rely on them to run.
Ant colonies are more likely to run cities due their all around social nature, where as Bees and Wasps tend to run their own isolated kingdoms.

Parent Species

Miinu