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Eminence Grise
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 6:45 PM
Default Beeeeeees!
Anybody really understand beekeeping yet? I'm afraid I'm a beekeeping noob.

Hive has four interactions: smoke, clean, feed bees, gather honey.

I THINK smoking should be done first to calm the bees and reduce chance of stings, but I don't know how often I need to clean and feed to keep my bees happy

And why do bees have to be fed anyway? I thought the whole point of bees is that they gather nectar from flowers!

Also, I've noticed honey can be used to sweeten desserts... what does that do? And I think honey and beeswax are also alchemy ingredients... any other functionality? Besides selling, goes for a good price I've noticed.
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Top Secret Researcher
#2 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 7:05 PM
Sometimes bees can have trouble finding enough nectar, especially if they're a large hive that hasn't swarmed yet, or it's during the winter. The museum where I work has a live beehive as one of the exhibits, with a tunnel to the window for them to go outside. We normally feed them concentrated sugar water during the winter and early spring to help, as their food supply during those times are low.

I've also read that sweet honey can be used to cure a Pestilence Curse before it becomes a disease.

I would like to clear up the little matter of my sanity as it has come into question. I am not in any way, shape, or form, sane. Insane? Hell yes!

People keep calling me 'evil.' I must be doing something right.

SilentPsycho - The Official MTS2 Psycho
Eminence Grise
Original Poster
#3 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 7:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by SilentPsycho
We normally feed them concentrated sugar water during the winter and early spring to help, as their food supply during those times are low.


Interesting That could be implemented as a tie-in with Seasons!
Instructor
#4 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 7:22 PM
My bees in sims bites even if they where smoked Evil creatures! :D
Instructor
#5 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 7:24 PM
Well, you take the honey from the bees and that's their food so therefore you must give them sugarwater instead.
My father had some hives with bees when I was a child.
Scholar
#6 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 10:16 PM
Oh duh! That's why I keep getting chased by bees; I need to smoke them first before I clean, feed and collect. Has anyone come across a recipe (for food) that requires honey yet, or is it just an additive to existing dishes?

Interesting note: The ancient Egyptians used honey on wounds to stop them from becoming infected. Honey has anti-bacterial qualities and obviously sticks like mad and forms a "seal" of sorts over a wound.
Mad Poster
#7 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 10:45 PM
I thought the smoking was done to get rid of them. Ugh. That box isn't very clear.

The only way my fairies were able to do anything with the bees without getting stung were to start the Aura of Soothing before they approached the box.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 6th Sep 2012 at 10:55 PM
Smoking calms them down irl, so I do- smoke, clean, feed, then harvest. I usually clean and feed once a day, that seems to be enough so far but I'm not sure what the official rules are for it, haha. I do know that after a few sims days, I have tons of honey from one hive.
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 11:10 AM Last edited by DeLoure : 8th Sep 2012 at 10:57 AM.
"Beads."
"BEES?!"
"BEADS."
"We'll we who brings in more honey. Bzzz!"
"They don't allow you to have bees in here (NO BEES!)"

- No, in all seriousness...I didn't know all of these things were possible. While I haven't explored this, I like that little detail. One thing I notice about Supernatural is the small, often overlooked things like this. It's kinda nice. Quick question, though. Is the honey edible or is it just a substance used for elixirs?
Top Secret Researcher
#10 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 11:16 AM
Should'nt that be a type of death? Death by bees but it would be worth it for those sims who have craving for honey.

"I know, and it breaks my heart to do it, but we must remain vigilant. If you cannot tell me another way, do not brand me a tyrant!" - knight commander Meredith (dragon age 2)

My sims stories: Witch queen
Nocturnal Dawn
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 11:34 AM
Quote: Originally posted by aeval99
Oh duh! That's why I keep getting chased by bees; I need to smoke them first before I clean, feed and collect. Has anyone come across a recipe (for food) that requires honey yet, or is it just an additive to existing dishes?

Firecracker Shrimp and Firecracker Tofu uses honey.
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 12:54 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Artimis
Should'nt that be a type of death? Death by bees but it would be worth it for those sims who have craving for honey.


I haven't tried yet, but there's a potion with bees in a bottle or something liket his. Maybe this can cause the death?!
Top Secret Researcher
#13 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 1:00 PM
Excellent potions of death next all we need is a bathroom of death and then sims 3 deaths would be compelte.

"I know, and it breaks my heart to do it, but we must remain vigilant. If you cannot tell me another way, do not brand me a tyrant!" - knight commander Meredith (dragon age 2)

My sims stories: Witch queen
Nocturnal Dawn
Scholar
#14 Old 7th Sep 2012 at 3:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Artimis
Should'nt that be a type of death? Death by bees but it would be worth it for those sims who have craving for honey.

Oh, definitely. This entire thread already just makes this scene loop in my mind OVER AND OVER AND OVER.



Screw it, I need a Nicholas Cage beekeeper sim now.

Snickerson: a Random Legacy Challenge. There are zebras involved. Zebras.
Scholar
#15 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 2:10 AM
So happy there's an Arrested Development reference AND a quote from The Wickerman in this thread. <3
Scholar
#16 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 2:40 AM
So, Nicolas Cage the Beekeeper Sim has made some interesting explorations. For context, I've been doing this testing with four beehives.

You can definitely make enough money off of beekeeping to live on. Better than a part time job, not as good as a full time job, but a lot less time-consuming (maybe three hours a day?). So far, after maybe three days ingame, if I go to harvest all four I wind up with four honeys and usually two beeswaxes. The wax ends up being worth just over twice what the honey is. If you harvest once a day, which I think would be normal, and you sell everything through your inventory, you start off at about $30 per hive, so at least early on you'd definitely need more than one. I haven't tried yet, but I'm guessing you can consign honey and wax to the alchemy consignment store for more profit.

After about two or three days, I'm up to Very Nice quality, which is about $50 per hive. So after two days I'm making about $200 for three hours of work, and I would have plenty of time to even double how many hives I own and manage a day. And Nicolas even has enough time to pursue the gardening skill in the meantime.

No sign of a skill, either unhidden or hidden, and it doesn't appear to be based on the alchemy skill. My next goal is to test to see whether the hive itself is leveling up, rather than your sim.

Something to be aware of is that it appears maids will clean(?) hives. I'm not sure whether it's just cleaning or cleaning and feeding or what, but I caught the maid screwing around with the hives earlier. And there's no end to how many times you can clean the hive, like there is with cleaning, say, toilets. I wonder if how many times you clean it affects the value?

Snickerson: a Random Legacy Challenge. There are zebras involved. Zebras.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 8:19 AM
I thought there would be candlemaking. Was that just an unfounded rumour? If you can't make candles, what do you do with all the wax?
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#18 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 9:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Zokugai
So, Nicolas Cage the Beekeeper Sim has made some interesting explorations. For context, I've been doing this testing with four beehives.

You can definitely make enough money off of beekeeping to live on. Better than a part time job, not as good as a full time job, but a lot less time-consuming (maybe three hours a day?). So far, after maybe three days ingame, if I go to harvest all four I wind up with four honeys and usually two beeswaxes. The wax ends up being worth just over twice what the honey is. If you harvest once a day, which I think would be normal, and you sell everything through your inventory, you start off at about $30 per hive, so at least early on you'd definitely need more than one. I haven't tried yet, but I'm guessing you can consign honey and wax to the alchemy consignment store for more profit.

After about two or three days, I'm up to Very Nice quality, which is about $50 per hive. So after two days I'm making about $200 for three hours of work, and I would have plenty of time to even double how many hives I own and manage a day. And Nicolas even has enough time to pursue the gardening skill in the meantime.

No sign of a skill, either unhidden or hidden, and it doesn't appear to be based on the alchemy skill. My next goal is to test to see whether the hive itself is leveling up, rather than your sim.

Something to be aware of is that it appears maids will clean(?) hives. I'm not sure whether it's just cleaning or cleaning and feeding or what, but I caught the maid screwing around with the hives earlier. And there's no end to how many times you can clean the hive, like there is with cleaning, say, toilets. I wonder if how many times you clean it affects the value?
Interesting. Maybe I can add some of my observations? While testing the lunar cycle madness I had my test Sim constantly visist the Alchemy consignment store, which has 2 hives in the backyard. The first time he harvested the hive he got perfect samples of both wax and honey and he could consign both at the register. They were quite valuable, he must have made some 1,000 with these alone.
The following days I had him smoke and harvest, but the quality decreased and was only Nice or Very Nice. So my thought was that maybe the quality increases over time, like nectar, and gets better the less often you harvest and do just the cleaning and feeding. When I harvested only every other day it at laest seemed that the quality was better (Great to Excellent) because of that.
Scholar
#19 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 9:48 AM
I hadn't thought of that. I'll see if that works the same on a home lot.

I did notice that it becomes possible, at least, to harvest honey once every exactly twelve hours. And cleaning or feeding doesn't seem to have a positive effect (that is, if you clean more you don't get better honey). Haven't been able to figure out yet whether it's even necessary at all. It's not like any of my bees have died yet or anything.

Also, if you consign at the alchemy store rather than just selling them straight...hot damn, does that ever make a difference in profit.

Snickerson: a Random Legacy Challenge. There are zebras involved. Zebras.
Eminence Grise
Original Poster
#20 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 10:45 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Zokugai
Also, if you consign at the alchemy store rather than just selling them straight...hot damn, does that ever make a difference in profit.


Yeah, that's been true since Ambitions. Anything you can consign, you should consign. The profit starts somewhat better and quickly rises to astronomically better.

Which reminds me, I've been meaning to install one of those teleporting phone booths to take my witch directly to the alchemy shop
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 11:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by aeval99
Oh duh! That's why I keep getting chased by bees; I need to smoke them first before I clean, feed and collect. Has anyone come across a recipe (for food) that requires honey yet, or is it just an additive to existing dishes?

Interesting note: The ancient Egyptians used honey on wounds to stop them from becoming infected. Honey has anti-bacterial qualities and obviously sticks like mad and forms a "seal" of sorts over a wound.


Oh! Because my Sim and her maid kept being attacked by bees. I didn't know that there was a method to avoiding that. Great note!
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 8th Sep 2012 at 5:45 PM
Quote: Originally posted by AnnaIME
I thought there would be candlemaking. Was that just an unfounded rumour? If you can't make candles, what do you do with all the wax?
The wax is used in alchemy and can also be consigned for a nice profit. My witch has made over 100,000 simoleons in about a sim week consigning potions, honey, wax, metals, gems, and alchemy plants with the help of her werewolf husband as well as transforming seeds into rare bugs (hello rainbow butterfly worth 1,000 simoleons). Even bad qualities of wax and honey sell nicely at the consignment store, and I've found cleaning and feeding once a day is usually enough for outstanding to perfect honey, but I also harvest every day. I'm going to try holding off on harvesting every day to see if that makes a quality difference. But if you can consign it, do it. You'll almost always make more money that way.
Field Researcher
#23 Old 6th Oct 2012 at 7:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Srikandi
Anybody really understand beekeeping yet? I'm afraid I'm a beekeeping noob.

Hive has four interactions: smoke, clean, feed bees, gather honey.

I THINK smoking should be done first to calm the bees and reduce chance of stings, but I don't know how often I need to clean and feed to keep my bees happy

And why do bees have to be fed anyway? I thought the whole point of bees is that they gather nectar from flowers!

Also, I've noticed honey can be used to sweeten desserts... what does that do? And I think honey and beeswax are also alchemy ingredients... any other functionality? Besides selling, goes for a good price I've noticed.


It comes with bees?!? AWESOME!! Trying to read up on all the game features before I get it (coming as a gift later, lol). I know with real bees (Dad used to have hives in the backyard), we never used any smoke, or special garb, but a beekeeping buddy did (he always got stung...). The smoke settles them, so probably the same in game. Cleaning would be because, in a hive, if left alone, they will make it so you can't lift up the panels, by adding too much wax. Maybe for food, more flowers around would help? Interesting option, though - we never fed ours. I wonder if they swarm...?

Helpful post, though - certain I will be using that feature when I install!
Scholar
#24 Old 7th Oct 2012 at 12:00 AM
I read that honey is the cure, or part of the cure for the pestilence curse.
Test Subject
#25 Old 7th Oct 2012 at 2:34 PM
In the lessons in the game it says that smoking may seem like a good idea but smoking makes the bees less hungry so they don't eat as much and the honey is not as good as it could be. I don't care if my sims get stung, although the bee attack is bad because they can't finish the action they were doing. I get perfect honey every time as long as I tend them every day with no smoking.
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