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2. Locating wild hives
Wild beehives all look similiar in design. Some of them are well hidden, even underground or in different dimensions. Depending on their location, they will house different species of bees. Try to collect them all! Tip: Wild bees will sting you! Consider crafting a smoker to calm them down before approaching. |
3. Types of bees
Wild hives will yield princesses and drones of their respectives species. You need at least one one of both. Princesses can come with the Pristine or Ignoble trait. The Ignoble trait indicates genetic imperfections which can cause the princess to die off at any point, leaving behind no offspring! Tip: Ignoble princesses can still be used to produce resources, which you will urgently need in the beginning. Hold onto them. |
4. A home for your bees
In order to work, your bees need a home. The bee house is the first basic home you will be able to provide for them. It is made using livingwood, a type of wood that can only be obtained using Botania Magic. Tip: Each bee house can only hold a single queen and thus only a single hive. Make sure to craft one bee house for each princess you have gathered. |
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5. Breeding bees
To the left you see the interface of your bee house. Place a princess in the top left and a drone in the bottom left slot and wait a few seconds for your princess to turn into a queen. Once this has happened, the bar to the left of the slots will indicate your queens lifespan and slowly decrease over time. During its lifespan the hive will produce items like honeycombs. Once the queen dies, it will leave several drones and a new princess behind to start the cycle anew. Tip: Rarely, a dying queen may produce several princesses! Tip: Any princess produced by a dying queen will have the same type of stock. |
7. Processing honeycombs
Most bees will produce honeycombs which contain honeydrops and possibly valuable items! To process the combs, you will need a centrifuge. This machine requires energy to work. If you do not yet have a source of energy, take a look at this guide. The Centrifuge has 2 slots. 1) Input: Honeycombs to be processed. 2) Output: Items obtained from combs. Tip: Pipes and item transportation can help you automate this machine. |
8. Honey and Oil
Drops obtained from combs can be processed into their liquid form using a squeezer. This machine can also turn most seeds into seed oil, which is then used in the creation of more advanced materials. Like most machines, the Squeezer needs energy to function. The Squeezer has 5 slots. 1) Input: Drops/Seeds to be processed. 2) Output: Liquids produced. 3) Output: Byproducts produced. 4) Input: Empty buckets/cans. 5) Output: Buckets/cans filled with liquid. Tip: Honeydrops are valuable, do not process them all into liquid honey. |
9. Creating advanced materials
Using liquid honey, seed oil, water or lava in combination with a machine called the Carpenter allows you to create a wide array of advanced crafting ingredients. The Carpenter has an internal inventory and will only craft items with sufficient supply of both ingredients and liquids. Each recipe requires a specific liquid to be supplied. The Carpenter has 5 slots. 1) Input: Internal inventory. 2) Input: Crafting layout to be used. 3) Input: Bucket/can containing liquid. 4) Input: Internal storage of liquid. 5) Output: Produced item. Tip: Pipes and item transportation can help you automate this machine. |
10. A better home
Now that you have access to advanced materials, you'll be able to make an Apiary. This is an upgraded version of the bee house. Unlike the bee house, it provides a boost to the rate at which your bees produce items. Its functions and user interface are otherwise nearly identical. The Apiary also allows for frames to be installed to further boost efficiency and other attributes of your bees. Tip: Due to their efficiency boost, it is heavily recommended to abandon bee houses and replace all of them with an Apiary. |
11. Apiary frames
The three square slots provided in the Apiary interface can each hold a frame. Frames can boost the production speed, lifespan or mutation rate of your bees. Every type of frame has its own effect and durability. Depending on the type of frame, a chance of genetic decay is applied. If this chance exceeds a certain threshold, it can turn a Pristine Princess into an Ignoble Princess and consequently kill it off. Tip: An easily obtainable frame for beginners is the Impregnated Frame made from Impregnated Sticks. |
12. Discovering new specimen
By crossing a princess and drone of different species, you can breed entirely new bees through genetic mutation. These new bees may come with unique drops and effects. Mutations are chance based and random, it can take several attempts before a successful mutation occurs. Look at the item interface in your inventory and click on a bee to learn more about its available mutations. Tip: Some mutations have special requirements like certain climates or nearby blocks. Tip: Soul Frames can greatly boost mutation rates in an Apiary. Tip: Remember that Ignoble Princesses can die off at any point. Avoid using them for breeding of new specimen. |