Guide To Beekeeping

First Steps

So, you want to keep those little flying demons and extract their sweet honey? First you need to request a Beekeeping starting kit from your local cargo bay. The starter kit will contain the items that you will need to create a happy bee colony from scratch. We'll get through all of them later. Before we begin, keep in mind that when a starter kit is ordered from cargo you are expected to have complete responsibility for the bees in your future colony, so don't fuck up!

Preparing Your New Colony

Now that your crate has arrived it's time to get your hands dirty! Take your crate and head to the desired place where your colony will reside and open it there. Of course, as a botanist, the obvious place will be at hydroponics. Lets set up the apiary.

- Put the beekeeper suit and hat on. (Optional for now, it's more useful for bigger colonies.)

- Pick up the queen bee and place it confortably in the apiary.

- Place the honey frames in the apiary respectively.

Aaand... Your first colony is ready!

Apiary Management

If you right-click and examine your apiary, it'll show some stats. The resource supply represents the amount of honey contained in the apiary. You need to have plants around your apiary so the bees can produce resources. While the bees fly around the plants the resource supply will rise, simple as that. When you check the apiary, it'll show the amount of resources needed to create a new honeycomb or a new bee in the moment that you checked it. A new bee costs 50 resources, while a new honeycomb costs 100 resources.

Keep'em Tame

Better protect your apiary, a single greytide can desrupt the bees and throw them in a rampage. That said, desrupting a colony can be done by attacking the apiary or attacking the bees directly. Keep the bees in their assigned space and don't let them roam around the station, they'll 100% cause trouble if that happens. Although, with the overpopulation problem there is no way you will be able to control ALL the bees. Expect the crew to see the insects at least one time flying around outside Hydroponics. Equip the beekeeper suit and hat in case they get angry!

Know When to Stop

As stated above, overpopulation can be a hassle so know when to stop growing plants. Without plants the colony don't produce resources, without resources there is no new bees. With that in mind you can kinda brake the colony's growth. The problem is how to get rid of them after.