[Far further, and more accurately,] the Queen confirmed. Even as she spoke a portion of the honor guard warriors broke off with almost impossible unity and fluidity.

Perhaps the Dictionary wasn't entirely wrong on calling a group of Barrys a hive. This close to the Queen the ones that moved did so as a single, fluid mass. They were, perhaps, responding to an unspoken cue, or a mental order.

[It comes from written language of course. Our records can be more static, and possess greater details than the Fungi-species dances. But each does their own thing. Some of our flowering kin record their histories in the very genomes of the plants they tend. It's an intriguing method, but one could argue that genetic degradation via natural mutation and all.]

Workers were arriving now, pulling with them mounds of tried needles. They sat down and were soon weaving what would prove to be a chair. Another one brought a great staff for the Queen, so that she could speak while seated, the thing specifically made to allow her to create all the needed percussive tones.

[Sit, we will speak. I would offer you nutrients and hydration, but the colony could not support a meal for you. Forgive us.]