Murmur of Bees

Ever wanted the Bee Houses to feel more like you were taking care of real, live animals? Ever wanted to take care of different types of bees? Introducing Murmur of Bees, a Bee House overhaul meant to add depth and variety to the Bee Houses of Stardew Valley!

Taking influence from the fetch quests of the Fish Ponds while respecting the self-reliant nature of the vanilla bee houses, this mod gives you the ability to periodically give gifts to your bees which can increase their capabilities. These capabilities come in three levels; First, bee houses placed on the farm are initially empty and you must first place a Queen Bee (purchasable at Marnie's) in one to start your hive, which then behaves like the vanilla bee houses (one honey, wild or flower flavored, per bee house every four days). All bee houses in an area count towards the same hive, so only one Queen is needed to cover the whole farm.  Second, an established hive can be given a gift which will determine which kind of bees they become, with each bee producing their honey a little bit differently (for example, Bumblebees make higher quality honey, while Honey Bees make honey more frequently). Finally, as with most farm animals, gifting your bees a Golden Animal Cracker will make them even more productive; they might even feel comfortable enough to produce Queens you can save and use to start your hive again the following year.

But that's just the bees on your farm; leave a bee house anywhere else in the valley and wild bees will automatically inhabit it.  Wild bees may also be given gifts to increase their productivity, though they will not accept the Golden Animal Crackers.  Bee houses placed on Ginger Island also behave a bit differently; they will need a Queen to get their hive started, though they are hardy and need no extra gifts. The challenge is finding the Queen in this tropical environment; you can't just take a bee from the mainland and put it on your island, you'll need to find a native species. All bee houses within one of these areas (on the farm, outside the farm, and on Ginger Island) behave as one hive, so bee houses do not need to be upgraded individually, gifts given to any bee house within one of those areas counts towards them all in that area.

Bees will not accept gifts at any time, but will signal to you through a visual and aural signifier that they're ready to receive a gift (not counting empty bee houses, you can place a Queen Bee in an empty bee house any time and it does not display a signifier).  Keep an eye out for the sight of bees swarming outside your bee houses or for the sound of bees buzzing to know when you can give them a gift to take them to the next stage in their development.

As with real life bees and in the base game, Winter is a period of hibernation for the bees; bees will not produce during Winter, and by Spring your hive will reset and need you to start over. You can