Bay 12 Games Forum

     Ikkonoishi: "Eh hives have to be outdoors to work. I was thinking of more diverse methods of sustaining them..."

I don't think beehives should have to be. As long as they have food (and water), there's no reason a healthy hive of bees couldn't be sustained indoors. Beekeepers use sugar-water/syrup/honey to help support their apiaries during droughts, and some beekeepers in cold climates winter their hives in their homes.

Rare Honey: Not every plant flowers every year (sage every 2-3 years, kurinji once every 12 years).

     DFWiki: "This will cause the hive to grow, allowing it to be split into additional artificial hives."

Skeps (the style I believe the dwarves are currently using) aren't splittable as langstroth or top-bar hives are.

The best you could do is put an empty skep nearby and hope that when they swarm (roaring 50-foot vortex of bees), they move into it.

When beehives procreate this way you usually lose the swarm (and lots of honey), and can be left with a hive at just 10% its original strength.

Top-bars (used for thousands of years), and modern langstroths, can be managed so that swarming is rare and splits are more 50/50. I suggest the dwarves switch to top-bar hives.

     Uristocrat: "What kind of protective clothing should dwarves make?"

Gloves, fine netting to protect the head, and a cloth bee-suit or robe seem reasonable, but smoke is the best protection. There are beekeepers (not me) who tend their hives with nothing for protection but a pair of shorts, shoes, and a lit cigar.

     Uristocrat: "Does this mean that people who ride or handle horses are also in danger from the scent?"

I'd think so if they got horse sweat on their clothes.

     Uristocrat: "How much do bees like those plants?  In other words, how hard is it to prevent them from using that?
     Or is it more a problem when collecting wild honey or getting wild bees to start a hive?"

Depends on the plant, I know bees avoid some toxics and not others. The location of the hive effects honeycomb composition. For domestic hives, this can be controlled, while wild hives choose for themselves. This makes eating honey from an untested wild hive riskier, but a good "wild" hive can be revisited for honey year after year.

     Acanthus117: "Wait, does that mean that strawberry honey tastes different than clover honey or something?"

Absolutely. Nectar source affects both honey flavor and colour. Some honeys are clear and sweet while others are near-black and really bitter. Storebought honey is usually a homogenized blend from different countries and not mono-floral. If you want to try a monofloral honey, look for the "PURE" label (try raspberry or watermelon if you can).

     Sunday: "isn't normal honey supposed to have antibiotic properties?"

Yes, antibiotic and healing to varying extents. It's especially helpful in treating burns. Honeyed cloth wraps can help with the application.

     Uristocrat: "What does that hierarchy look like / what is it based on..."

Bees have their own peculiar preferences. Occasionally those preferences are very strong and they will fly through three miles of less desirable flowers to get to the ones they like. I know they like clover and thyme, and try to avoid soy and alfalfa. But I think DF would be good with just nectar-abundance and proximity.