Editing Beekeeping industry

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:00, 15 August 2014 (UTC)}}

 

[[File:Beekeeping Industry Flowchart.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Beekeeping industry flowchart]]

 

The '''beekeeping industry''' is an agricultural process that involves farming [[honey bee]]s in built [[hive]]s to produce [[honeycomb]]s and [[royal jelly]], the former of which is further processed into [[honey]] and [[wax]]. The primary skill and labor used in the industry is [[beekeeping]].

 

[[Bumblebee]]s cannot be used in beekeeping.^{[http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=4003#c15306 [1]]} They do possess their own version of honey, royal jelly, wax, and even mead, all of which are unobtainable in normal gameplay.

Honey bees are one of the {{token|VERMIN_SOIL_COLONY|c}} creatures, which includes bumblebees, [[ant]]s, and [[termite]]s. Colonies of honey bees appear randomly on the surface ground as a circle {{Tile|○|7:1}} (the color is determined by the floor tile). Maps have a hard limit to how many wild colonies can appear simultaneously. If new colonies stop appearing, it means this limit has been reached. Therefore, honey bee colonies might be unable to spawn because the "space" is occupied by other vermin colonies. Building [[dirt road]]s over existing colonies frees up space for new ones to generate.

If a colony cannot be found after searching, set up a single hive and leave it for about a year as a last-ditch effort. Beekeepers will immediately be able to find an accessible honey bee colony that may have gone unnoticed or spawned inconspicuously. Occasionally check the hive for live bees by viewing the building with {{k|t}} from the menu.

Hives {{Tile|▬|6:1}} are a [[tool]]. They can be made in a variety of hard materials from their respective [[workshop]]s and [[labor]]s. Beekeepers themselves do not craft them. Hives are stored in [[finished goods]] [[stockpile]]s.

 

They can be built by opening the [[building|{{k|b}}uilding]] menu and either selecting {{DFtext|Hive|7:1}} or pressing {{k|Alt + h}}. They can be built on any hard surface, both indoors and outdoors. Only beekeepers can haul and place them.

[[Tile attributes]] affect honey production. In order for hives to produce, they must be built adjacent to (or on) an above ground tile. Subterranean hives can still store colonies that can be used later for splitting, but they cannot produce anything. Hives are marked as having either {{DFtext|Outdoor|2:1}} or {{DFtext|No outdoor|4:1}} access; this is referring to the above ground and subterranean attributes, not the outside and inside attributes. Hives can produce normally in both outside and inside tiles. So long as hives are placed above ground, they can be completely enclosed with constructions from outside while still creating products, allowing beekeepers to work safely at all times.

 

Managing hives is fairly automated. Beekeepers will perform most of the necessary jobs on their own when available. There are two options in the building settings that can be toggled to control beekeepers from installing colonies or from gathering products in a hive. Hives are set by default to allow colony installation and product gathering.

 

Hovering the cursor near a hive in the building settings menu ({{k|q}}) will display:

** {{k|c}} {{DFtext|Install colony when ready|7:1}} or {{DFtext|Do not install colony|7:1}}.

** {{k|g}} {{DFtext|Gather any products|7:1}} or {{DFtext|Do not gather products|7:1}}.

 

There is a soft limit of 40 colonies. Empty hives, wild colonies, and hauled colonies do not count against this limit. When the number of colonies on the map reaches 41 or more, honeycomb and royal jelly no longer have a 100% possibility of spawning six months after installation. If the colony does not produce a honeycomb or royal jelly, then it has a chance to produce again every six months. The likelihood of spawning affects products individually, so it is possible that a honeycomb appears while royal jelly does not, and vice versa. The soft limit does not affect colonies that were installed before the limit had been passed. Hives that contain colonies will have the following warning in the building settings when the soft limit is exceeded:

The limits do not affect the spawning of wild colonies, nor do they alter the amount of time needed for colonies to become ready to split.

 

Deconstructing a hive releases the colony inside (it cannot be retrieved), as well as dropping any honeycomb, royal jelly, or jug left inside. Fallen honeycombs and jugs can be hauled back, but spilled royal honey cannot be hauled.

Six months after installing a colony, a hive produces one [[honeycomb]] {{Tile|∞|6:1}} and one [[royal jelly]] {{Tile|≈|7:1}}. Products have a 100% chance of spawning, unless the colony count exceeded the limit. Only one honeycomb and royal jelly will spawn at a time, and no further products will appear until they are gathered from the hive. The colony size does not affect the output speed - neither, for that matter, do the [[surroundings]], [[plant]]s, [[weather]], or [[season]]s affect production.

Royal jelly is a liquid [[food]]. It is used as an ingredient in [[prepared meal]]s, but it can only be cooked if another solid food item is included in the meal.

 

Honey, like royal jelly, is a liquid food that can be cooked into a meal. Additionally, honey can be brought to a [[still]] and brewed into [[alcohol|mead]], the only obtainable non-plant-based alcoholic drink. Wax can be processed into various [[craft]]s by a [[wax worker]]. Wax crafts have a [[material value]] of one.