Hiver Parental Instinct
The strong Hiver parental instinct can be considered an offshoot of the Hiver instinct for racial survival. To humans, this parental instinct seems somehow warped. For example, Hivers are horrified by the idea that their larvae might somehow find its way to a world where there is no nest to receive it. To prevent this, Hiver ships are carefully fumigated to kill any hiding larvae before landing or docking, and extreme measures are undertaken to ensure that no Hiver crewmember deposits larvae where there is no nest.
On the other hand, the notion of artificially limiting larvae production is considered barbaric by the Hivers. As Hiver culture has grown more sophisticated, Hivers have extended their interpretation of the parental instinct to "child" races—primitive or culturally backward aliens — as well as their own Hiver children. The Hive Federation has been influenced by this instinct and it colors Hiver behavior toward races outside the Federation as well. Humans are seen as being the best candidates for civilization outside the Hiver sphere, though Hivers still regard human cultures as barbaric due to their capacity for violence and the wildly confused welter of genotypes and cultures which are permitted to flourish in human space.
Imperial humans are preferred over the more militant and intolerant inhabitants of the Solomani sphere. There have been few contacts with the Zhodani or the Vargr. The stability and conformity of Zhodani society would probably appeal to the Hivers; they would have disdain for the confused nature of Vargr behavior. The Aslan and the K'kree are seen as being too aggressive to ever reach a truly civilized status.