Each 19th-century invention is modelled as a real mechanism rather than a decoration. Dragging the year slider unlocks it at the date it was actually invented, mirroring the 3D version of this lab:
- Movable frame (Langstroth, 1852) — a frame can be pulled from the hive without destroying the comb, unlike a fixed-comb skep.
- Foundation wax (1857) — a pre-stamped hex pattern that bees build straight, uniform comb onto, raising the honey yield multiplier.
- Honey extractor (von Hruschka, 1865) — spinning an uncapped frame inside a drum flings honey out by centrifugal force; honey volume collected scales with spin RPM and elapsed spin time, and only works once the frame is pulled clear of the hive.
- Bellows smoker (Quinby, 1873) — cool smoke masks the colony's alarm pheromone and triggers a feeding response; bee agitation decays toward a low target while smoke is active and rises back toward its baseline once it stops.
Bee agitation drives the swarm: calmer colonies fly a tight, slow orbit near the entrance, agitated ones scatter fast and wide.