Check my Bee House + Aging Barrel Math

[calm shell]

I setup automated Bee House + Aging Barrel in a shed. 9 Bee Houses, 28 Aging Barrels. I figure, honey takes 2 days, mead takes 6, so 3x as many barrels needed. I also have the "Hasten Nature" skill, so honey should be a tad quicker.

But the bee houses are not keeping up - I always have empty barrels. I've been tossing Coffee into the mix to fill up barrels, so I know I usually have 2 or 3 empty barrels. And I'm not getting a backup of Honey either - the coffee isn't taking up spots honey could take.

Is my thinking off? Or is this just another symptom of artisan machine and automation running slow?

[winged roost]

It take time to fill all up, since 3 honey go into a barrel and only then into the next.
I did the same mistake when i planned and only noticed after I got 900+ aging barrels

[calm shell]

I've been running this setup for about a season - I'd expect it to smooth out by now.

I used the same scheme for Kegs+Barrels and Jars+Barrels - work out the ratio based on how long they take to process. The kegs and jars are keeping up. It's just the bees that are falling behind...