Bees and honey

[sims96fan]

I bought a few hives but haven't managed to get any honey from them yet.  My sim also got stung a few times.  Does anyone know the best way to take care of the hives and get the honey?  How long does it take for honey to form?

[Vegangeekgirl]

I gotten honey from mine and my Sim haven't gotten stung. I picked smoke hive, clean hive, harvest honey and then feed bees.
Not sure how long it takes.

[Shirin]

It takes about 1-2 days for honey to start being harvestable. You can also get beeswax out of it.

My rotation is Smoke Hive, Harvest Honey, Clean Hive, Feed Bees.

I'm pretty sure that in real life, you'd want to smoke the hive before doing anything, as smoking the hive kind of lulls the bees into a quieter stage.

[sims96fan]

Thanks, I will try this out!  How much honey do you get from the hives?  Isn't it faster/cheaper to get it from the store, given that feeding the bees costs 150 simoleons?

[Lysita]

I haven't noticed that feeding the bees costs anything. And I was able to harvest within the first 24 sim hours, I just did the smoke, clean, feed routine straight away. I believe you need to feed them for them to be able to make honey, or make it quicker.

[sims96fan]

I tried the smoke, clean, feed, harvest method but sometimes my sim still gets stung.  Is this supposed to happen?

Also, most of my honey seems to be bad quality or worse.   Is there a way to improve the quality of the honey?

[inde]

Clean and Feed, Clean and Feed, Clean and Feed.  Getting stung is somewhat helpful, because that lets you know your bees are displeased with your beekeeping aptitude. Once your bees are happy, they will buzz around in circles instead of wildly flying about.  That is when you should be able to harvest better quality honey.

[candyraver69]

I haven't proven anything yet, but I think besides the order you care for the hive the frequency is also important. I have tried the hive in 2 different households, and it seemed that the house where I did the routine once a day, he stopped getting stung after the first few days AND the honey was good. The house where I leave the hive alone until I need it because I am too busy, I get stung all the time and the honey and wax is bad quality (bad, horrifying, etc) regardless of smoking the hive.

[Joria]

Just like in RL, bees need "Tending", to make happy bee honey.  I don't think you harvest honey everyday in rl though. lol  Smokin', harvestin', cleanin' and feedin' my hives.

PS:  Anyone know if you can keep the honey and beeswax on a shelf, in the frig or does it have to stay in inventory?  In RL if you refrigerate honey it crystalizes.

[thelittlepakeha]

lol to be quite honest I actually just harvest my honey from the hives at the elixir consignment store or arboretum. The quality ranges from nice to perfect without me having to clean or feed - I just smoke and harvest. Haven't been stung yet. I've been keeping my honey in the alchemy cabinet just to stop my fairy from drinking it all the time. It gives her a nice moodlet - but my alchemy ingredients!

[elaine]

Feed, Smoke, Take honey, Clean - Worked for me.

[thesimslover828]

Honey is also at the grocery store, I just found out. I'll get honey that way, it's easy lol.

[thelittlepakeha]

Selling perfect beeswax at the consignment store the listed price is 140, plus whatever markup, just in case anyone has spare beeswax and not enough money.

[Sammijo]

There is a tip on loading that says smoking the hive makes the bees happy and that improves the quality and quantity of honey.

[sims96fan]

I've gone to smoking + harvesting, smoking + cleaning + feeding, doing both twice a day and my honey is still only Great at best.  Usually it's normal or nice.

Taking care of the hives takes a long time, too!  It might be easiest to go buy honey from the grocery store or harvest the good honey from the arboretum.