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Honey dressings for wounds

16 (24.6%)

Honey-preservation of foods

19 (29.2%)

Bee Anger (if stirred up, hives stay angry for a while; see post #162)

14 (21.5%)

Sting Effects (allergies/resistance; first post)

15 (23.1%)

Equine Enmity (hives attack nearby horses (unicorns maybe); see post #23)

1 (1.5%)

Addition of Stingless Bees (less risk/less honey; see posts #78-79)

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 34

Voting closed: June 18, 2011, 11:22:09 pm

[Acanthus117]

I approve of this thread, especially for the idea of different types of honey.

...

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

[Symmetry]

This is an awesome thread, thanks buzzing_beard.

[Uristocrat]

     "Toxic Honey: Eating honey made from toxic plants often has undesirable side-effects"

It's true for humans, not sure about dwarves. What's toxic to humans isn't always toxic to bees.
Honey toxic to humans:
+Azalea
+Mountain Laurel
+Oleander
+Yew

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?

[Sunday]

I approve of this thread, especially for the idea of different types of honey.

...

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

Yep, I think so. Most storebought honey (in the US, at least) comes from clover—sweet, but with a bit less flavor than some other honeys. My mom has a beehive with nectar from nearby fruit trees, and honey from that hive tastes noticeably different.

Anyway, I agree that it would be cool if—when special plants are different—there were special effects depending on the plant. Fireflowers (if Toady puts something in like it)=boiling or spicy honey, valley herb honey=super healing properties, etc.

Speaking of which, isn't normal honey supposed to have antibiotic properties? Since honey isn't super useful right now, perhaps it could act as a soap-replacement for infections.

[Neonivek]

We had a medicine thread a while ago that included the many uses for Honey in terms of medical uses (Egyptians were all about the honey)

[NW_Kohaku]

Yep, I think so. Most storebought honey (in the US, at least) comes from clover—sweet, but with a bit less flavor than some other honeys. My mom has a beehive with nectar from nearby fruit trees, and honey from that hive tastes noticeably different.

Depends on what stores you buy from.  Generally, the usual grocery stores have clover honey, since clover is the cheapest type of honey to produce.  If you go to the higher-class, higher-priced stores, they'll sell different honeys based upon what flowers the bees have access to.  Tupelo honey, for example, is a "luxury brand" of honey, and thanks to its particular blend of sugar, is supposedly reccommended for diabetics.

[Buzzing_Beard]

     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.

[Burnt Pies]

Personally, I can recommend Lime Blossom Honey as well. Different Honeys can taste so different you wouldn't know it's honey if it hadn't told you on the jar.

I'm loving the amount of detail put into this, and really want to see it put into the game.

[Buzzing_Beard]

Honeybees have a special vendetta against horses, or the smell of their sweat at least. While other livestock is tolerated, horses can trigger a swarm-attack 80 feet from a hive. An attack will kill a horse that can't run away.

[Uristocrat]

Honeybees have a special vendetta against horses, or the smell of their sweat at least. While other livestock is tolerated, horses can trigger a swarm-attack 80 feet from a hive. An attack will kill a horse that can't run away.

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

[NW_Kohaku]

Oh, and elves and humans siege from horseback, yes?  Heh heh heh...

[Acanthus117]

KILL KILL KILL

[Buzzing_Beard]

     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.

[Buzzing_Beard]

     Jake: "Protective clothing for beekeepers would also be a good idea. Maybe leather armour..."

Leather (cow) has one of those smells that can really agitate the little devils; also bananas (these are things you learn).


     DFWiki: "The royal jelly is a counted as an edible item and can be cooked or eaten as is. The honeycomb requires a
     bit more effort, in that it must be brought to a screw press..."

Honeycomb is an edible item too (eaten wax and all). It comes ready-to-eat straight from the hive (once you get the bees off). Seperating the honey is good for storage because some bugs like to eat the pollen embedded in the wax and can mess up your honeycomb. Of course you could also keep your honeycomb safely preserved in honey .


     DFWiki: "Once the artificial hive is built, it can be set to either allow collection of hive products (which destroys
     the hive)..."

That's sad. Don't use skeps little dwarves! You don't need to kill your bees to get honey and wax. Also, hives are hard to kill without using poison (skeps were usually harvested/killed with sulphur fumes). Top-bars are a better option.

[Flaede]

Smoke: Bees exposed to smoke are less likely to attack. I'd guess 80% less likely to attack

Of course we'd need some reliable way to get steam without getting !!DWARF!! if you know what I mean

That part is easy  the folks toying with fuses and dwarven gunpowder back in .40d tried to perfect something like this, but I cannot find the thread.

Modify that and you could have a two step, two item process -
1 "glob" or something (glob or stone seem best for stockpile simplicity I'd say glob) that burns or vapourizes at a low, safe, temp, but higher than bee-colony-area-temps.
2 "stone" (or "glob" again, but stone just feels better) item with a fixed temp at least one urist above the temp needed to trigger glob. Poof. Smoke. or glob vapour (inhale poison only to bees? syndrom: temporary knockout gas?).

That second "trigger" item could be useful for many different applications triggering different vapour-syndrome-glob things, making venom-puddles from solid venom-globs, or lighting 'fuses' a la the old gunpowder threads. You could even use it for melting ice on demand. or wax.

I don't get the fixed temp and heating stuff in the newer versions well enough to get this to work, unfortunately. I'm working on understanding creature branded glob-creation better, though.