Bee House
| Bee House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Crafted Item |
| Recipe | Farming (Level 3) |
The Bee House is one of the most relaxed money makers on the farm. Set outdoors, it fills with Honey every few days through Spring, Summer and Fall without needing any input at all. A blooming flower nearby turns plain Wild Honey into flower honey, and the best flowers multiply its value several times over. The recipe comes early, at Farming level 3, and completing the Fall Crops Bundle in the Pantry hands over a free one. Rows of hives around a single flower bed become a steady artisan income that only asks for a walk past every few days.
Recipe
Reaching Farming level 3 teaches the recipe. Most of its parts are basic farm materials, but one needs some patience. The Maple Syrup comes from a Tapper placed on a Maple Tree, which takes more than a week to fill. Starting a Tapper early in the first Spring keeps syrup ready for the first hives. The Iron Bar comes from smelting Iron Ore with Coal in a Furnace.
The Community Center offers a shortcut. Finishing the Fall Crops Bundle in the Pantry rewards one Bee House straight away.
These are the ingredients one batch needs.
| Name | Image | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wood | 
|
40 |
| Coal | 
|
8 |
| Iron Bar | 
|
1 |
| Maple Syrup | 
|
1 |
Use
Bees only work outside. A Bee House placed on open ground produces Honey every four days in Spring, Summer and Fall. In Winter it sits idle, and the bees stay quiet in the Greenhouse too. Hives can also stand off the farm, but anything left on a villager's walking route risks being knocked away, so quieter corners are safer.
With no flowers close by, the hive makes Wild Honey, the cheapest kind. A fully grown flower within five tiles changes that. The hive then makes honey named after that flower, and it sells for far more. When several flowers are in range, the closest one decides the type.
The flower is never used up. One flower can feed every hive within reach. The classic layout therefore puts a small flower bed in the middle, with a ring or rows of Bee Houses around it. A sprinkler beside the flowers keeps them growing with no daily watering, and the whole setup becomes almost hands-off.
The honey type is fixed at the moment of collection, not when the honey becomes ready. Harvesting the flower first turns waiting flower honey back into Wild Honey. Leaving the flowers standing until the hives are emptied protects the bonus.
Notes
Flower choice decides the profit. Tulips make the cheapest flower honey, and Blue Jazz does better in Spring. Summer Spangle and Poppy both beat Sunflowers in Summer, with Poppy the best of that season. Fairy Rose honey is the most valuable of all, so Fall is the strongest season for a bee farm. Planting the flowers on the first day of a season gives the hives the most days of flower honey.
The Artisan profession raises the price of every honey, since Honey counts as an artisan good. Honey also has other uses. A Keg turns it into Mead, which a Cask in the cellar can then age. One jar fills the Honey slot in the Artisan Bundle in the Pantry. Honey is also part of the Warp Totem: Farm recipe.
All Crafting
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
