Apiaries and Honey

Learn how to get honey in Manor Lords! Discover the Beekeeping development, building an Apiary, and the benefits of honey for food variety and approval ratings.

Alright, let's talk about getting honey in Manor Lords. It's not your primary food source, but it's super useful for boosting your settlement's approval rating, especially in the late game. Here's how you set up your own apiary.

Here's the rundown:

1. First things first, you need to unlock Beekeeping. This is a development found under the forestry tree. You can grab it pretty early on if you want honey production to start sooner rather than later.
2. Once Beekeeping is unlocked, you can build an Apiary. Head over to the gathering building menu, and you'll find it there. It'll cost you two planks to get one built.
3. Keep in mind, you can only have a maximum of two apiaries in any single settlement.
4. To actually get honey flowing, you'll need to assign workers to the apiary. You can have up to four workers per apiary.

Now, while honey isn't going to feed your entire population, it's a fantastic way to increase your food variety. Giving your citizens more diverse food options gives them a significant approval boost. This is especially helpful when you're trying to grow your population quickly in new settlements or boost approval in large towns so you can tax them more effectively for your treasury.

The best strategy is usually to get a couple of apiaries up and running early for that variety buff, and then maybe invest in more in your larger, late-game settlements if you need that extra approval boost. It's mostly for those late-game approval buffs that let you build bigger armies or get more gold.

Getting Honey Through Trade

If setting up your own apiaries isn't your jam, you can always import honey. The Trading Post will sell honey for 13 regional wealth each. However, if you've invested in the Better Deals development, that price drops significantly to just 3 regional wealth. That's a steal for the approval and variety boost it provides, especially if you're focusing on trade.

Paying the full 13 regional wealth is only really viable for very large, prosperous settlements. In the mid to late game, there are usually more pressing resource needs. Honey is more of a luxury item for food variety, so it's best to focus on it when your settlement is already doing well. Don't forget you've got other, easier-to-get food sources like eggs, bread, vegetables, apples (once you unlock orchards), and berries to keep your people fed.