Players in Stardew Valley aim to live off the land — but not just by growing crops and raising animals. There are plenty of ways that players can use the tools at their disposal to create artisanal products, and one that sometimes gets overlooked is honey.
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Yet, honey in Stardew Valley is easy to cultivate, and can quickly become extremely profitable. Players can simply build a few bee houses and leave them outside — or, if they wish to create a honey empire, they can take things to the next level.
Building A Bee House
The Bee House crafting recipe becomes available at Farming Level 3. Players will need the following materials for one Bee House:
- 40 Wood
- 8 Coal
- 1 Iron Bar
- 1 Maple Syrup
Once crafted, place the Bee House anywhere outside — on the farm, in the forest, at the quarry. No matter where it is placed, the Bee House will produce honey every 3-4 days during every season except for Winter. Note that although they can be placed in the Greenhouse, Bee Houses will not produce honey there.
Flowers & Honey Types
If there are no flowers within five tiles of the bee house, it will produce Wild Honey, which is worth 100g (140g with the Artisan profession). However, planting flowers within its vicinity will change the type of honey and raise its value.
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Since Honey is considered an Artisan Good, it is affected by the Artisan profession. If the player chooses this profession at Farming Level 10, all Artisan Goods increase in value by 40%. Both the regular and increased prices are shown below:
-
Spring Flowers
- Tulip Honey: 160g (224g)
- Blue Jazz Honey: 200g (280g)
-
Summer Flowers
- Sunflower Honey: 260g (364g)
- Summer Spangle Honey: 280g (392g)
- Poppy Honey: 380g (532g)
-
Fall Flowers
- Sunflower Honey: 260g (364g)
- Fairy Rose Honey: 680g (952g)
Flowers grown from Wild Seeds, such as Sweet Peas or Daffodils, do not alter the type of honey; Bee Houses near these flowers will produce Wild Honey.
What Honey Is Used For
Though the more valuable Honey types are best to simply sell as they are, players can use Wild Honey or other less expensive varieties to craft other items, or give as gifts.
Mead
After harvesting, Honey can be placed in a Keg to make Mead. At its base quality, Mead sells for 200g, and it benefits from the Artisan profession described above. Players can age it in a Cask to increase its quality and therefore its value:
- Normal: 200g (280g)
- Silver: 250g (350g)
- Gold: 300g (420g)
- Iridium: 400g (560g)
Note that the type of Honey used to make Mead has no impact on the quality or sell price of the product; thus, using Wild Honey (the cheapest variety) to make Mead leads to the greatest profit.
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Crafting & Bundles
Though no Cooking recipes involve Honey, players can use it along with 1 Hardwood and 20 Fiber to craft a Warp Totem: Farm (available at Farming Level 8). The player can use this anytime, anywhere, to immediately teleport themselves back to the farmhouse.
In the Community Center, Honey is one of the options that the player can use to complete the Artisan Bundle in the Pantry.
Gifting
Like many artisan goods, honey is among the best choices to gift to other villagers to win their friendship. All villagers except for Maru and Sebastian count Honey among their Liked gifts. Since it's easy to come by, Wild Honey is a great item to stockpile when trying to woo friends (or pontential lovers).
Honey's alcoholic evolution, Mead, is also a great gifting choice, especially for Pam and Willy. Most other villagers like it as well, but avoid giving this gift to Penny, Sebastian, or (obviously) any children.