Beehive kiln

A beehive kiln is a multi-block structure that is used to fire a large amount of raw clay items at once. The hatches offer precise control over oxygen levels and allow for the creation of colored ceramics.

A beehive kiln in use

Creation

Materials

A beehive kiln can be built with either fire clay bricks or refractory bricks.

To build a beehive kiln, the following blocks are required:

• 1 Kiln door

• 3 Iron hatch doors

• 55 Brick blocks

• 9 Brick gratings

• 9 Non-flammable blocks, such as soil or cobblestone

These are made of the following materials:

• 4 Nails and strips (iron, meteoric iron, or steel)

• 4 Rods (iron, meteoric iron, or steel)

• 6 Plates (iron)

• If using fire clay bricks:
  • 568 Red or blue clay
  • 71 Powdered calcined flint
  • 17 Mortar

• If using refractory bricks:
  • 512 Red or blue clay
  • 64 Powdered calcined flint
  • 31 Mortar
  • 254 Crushed quartz
  • 254 Crushed bauxite
  • 254 Crushed olivine (optional for Tiers 2 and 3)
  • 254 Crushed ilmenite (optional for Tier 3)

Construction

The beehive kiln must be built in the exact configuration shown in-game. After the kiln door is placed, the player can press Ctrl + to show the building help overlay and check for incorrectly placed blocks (Ctrl + Shift + to hide).

1. Place the kiln door while facing the direction where the rest of the structure will be built. To make room for the fuel chamber, the door should be elevated at least 2 blocks above the ground, or a 3x2x3 space and access passage should be excavated behind and below the door.

2. Place a 3x1x3 square of brick gratings behind and below the door. This will form the floor.

3. Place 12 brick blocks adjacent to the gratings (including under the door). This will form the base of the walls.

4. Place an iron hatch door centered to the left, right, and across from the kiln door. Then, raise the brick walls on all 4 sides by 3 blocks. The walls are now complete.

5. Place 8 brick blocks above the walls to cover the interior, leaving a hole in the center. This will form the ceiling.

6. Place 4 brick blocks adjacent to the opening. This will form the chimney.

The fuel will occupy the 3x1x3 space directly below the gratings. If necessary, build a platform below the fuel using any non-flammable blocks (enclosing walls are not necessary). This will form the fuel chamber.

For the beehive kiln to operate, all of the required blocks must not be damaged or chiseled. Decorative blocks can be placed anywhere on the outside of the kiln. Only gratings and raw clay items can be placed inside the kiln.

Damage

Over time, bricks and gratings will be damaged by exposure to high heat, similar to the cementation furnace. The presence of damaged blocks will prevent the beehive kiln from functioning.

A damage calculation occurs every 168 hours of operation (not after a successful firing):

• Fire clay bricks have a 50% (1 in 2) chance to break.

• Tier 1 refractory bricks have a 10% (1 in 10) chance to break.

• Tier 2 refractory bricks have a 5% (1 in 20) chance to break.

• Tier 3 refractory bricks have a 0.1% (1 in 1000) chance to break.

A beehive kiln’s total operating time is displayed on the kiln door's Block Info HUD. This operating time is specifically stored within the kiln door's metadata. If the door is replaced with a different one, the time will reset.

Usage

To operate the beehive kiln:

1. Place raw clay items in the kiln’s 3x3x3 interior space. Stackable items, such as bricks and shingles, can be piled up to the ceiling. For non-stackable items, additional gratings can be placed on the middle vertical layer to create a “shelf” for more storage.

2. Close the kiln door, and ensure that the 3 iron hatch doors have been opened or closed to produce the desired ceramic color. More open doors will allow oxygen to enter the kiln and darken the ceramics' color.

3. Place fuel (firewood , peat , or any coal ) below each of the 9 gratings. There must be a minimum of 3 firewood, 2 peat, or 1 coal in a pile to ignite, but a full pile is not required.

4. Press Shift + with a torch to ignite 1 pile, which will eventually ignite the others.

5. When all 9 piles are lit, the kiln will heat its contents by 500°C per in-game hour, until reaching a maximum of 1200°C.

6. Raw clay items will begin firing when their temperature is higher than 950°C, and must be fired for a total of 9 hours.

Starting from 0°C, the entire process takes 10.9 in-game hours.

If the 3x3x3 space is fully packed, a maximum of 648 bricks, 5184 shingles, 72 quarter-blocks (ex: cooking pots), or 18 full blocks (ex: planters) can be fired at once.

Storage vessels have the unique property of stacking on top of each other when they fall due to gravity, which eliminates the need for a shelf. However, packing 27 storage vessels will require the player to disassemble and reassemble the kiln ceiling.

Fuel efficiency

Firewood , peat , and coal burn for different lengths of time. Each complete firing of the beehive kiln requires a fixed amount of fuel :

• Firewood: 252 pieces (9*28)
• Peat: 216 bricks (9*24)
• All coal types: 54 pieces (9*6)

The efficiency of the fuel depends on how many raw clay items were packed into the kiln. Moreover, adding full stacks of fuel when it is not necessary will reduce fuel efficiency.

To compare with the pit kiln , the following calculations were made under the assumption that the beehive kiln is loaded with the minimum amount of fuel and maximum amount of items:

Item type	Pit kiln		Beehive kiln
	Maximum items	Fuel (any) cost per item	Maximum items	Firewood cost per item	Peat cost per item	Coal cost per item
Shingle	48	0.083	5184	0.049	0.42	0.01
Brick	12	0.333	648	0.389	0.333	0.083
Quater-block	4	1	72	3.5	3	0.75
Full block	1	4	18	14	12	3
Storage vessel	1	8	27	9.333	8	2

Under optimal conditions, the beehive kiln is superior to the pit kiln in coal usage efficiency, comparable in peat usage efficiency, and inferior in firewood usage efficiency. Realistically however, players are more likely to use the kiln to fire a small or medium amount of items, which will reduce fuel efficiency.

The beehive kiln’s inherent advantages are its short firing time and streamlined process: clay items are fired in a single, compact location and do not require sticks and dry grass .

Gallery

Ceramic colors after firing

Item	Pit kiln	0 hatches open	1 hatch open	2 hatches open	3 hatches open
Raw blue clay brick		Cream	Gray	Black	Clinker
Raw red clay brick		Tan	Orange	Red	Brown
Raw blue clay shingle
Raw red clay shingle
Raw blue clay jug
Raw red clay jug

Video tutorials

Constructing a beehive kiln

History

Version		Description
1.2.0	pre.1	The beehive kiln and its exclusive kiln door were introduced.
	rc.5	Fire clay bricks were added as an alternative to refractory bricks.
	rc.6	Fixed an issue with refractory bricks being allowed for gratings but not main blocks.