Bee goals content report

It's nearly a week since we were invaded by a swarm of bees courtesy of the latest goal set. Many players will have now completed the quest, and so it's high time we took a look at the content exclusively available via the various challenges.

And the review commences with the Honey Stove which is unlocked following completion of the opening goal. Lathered with honey, this is a sticky looking appliance, and joins the ranks of those which are of the fantasy variety. To build it you need 5 Honey Pot Knobs, 5 Brass Diverters and 5 Feather Fan Knobs. The first of these is one of two brand new parts.

Bee Knob and Honey Pot Knob

There's nothing unusual about this, but the presence of the Feather Fan Knob should be noted. This is the third quest in a row which has seen this Thanksgiving component utilised. It appears to be becoming a popular part for no apparent reason, and so may well be worth exchanging with your neighbours for future goals.

There are three recipes to discover on the Honey Stove.

Honey Stove recipes

These are all tasty looking dishes, and each has a nice bit of garnish to enhance the appearance. The Honey Flan is a particular highlight for me with the small dollop of cream on top and the dessert spoon willing us to get stuck in.

The aesthetics only count for so much though, and it's time to peruse the recipe ratings for these foods:

Honey Flan
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	8	1	7	5	3.9

Honey Bites
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	7	1	10	5	4.3

Honey Chicken
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	2	2	10	5	3.3

There's some interesting stuff to be gleaned from this. First of all just look at those reds! The Honey Flan has the second lowest profit of any 2 hour dish in the game's history, with only the Barley Pilaf (Resolute Stove) performing more poorly. Add in the dreadful portion score (which ties for second worst in the duration) and this recipe is always going to end up with a low overall rating.

And yet it tries its best to boost that with a splendid XP gain. The 64 XP for cooking this food is bettered by only two other 2 hour contenders, making this a great inclusion for those looking to advance levels while still completing the goals. Just a shame your coin balance won't agree!

The Honey Bites also manages to capture a red, with that coming on the portions front. It does however produce a more solid display when it comes to profit, albeit still only enough to get in the orange. The XP is again impressive, with the bites landing a tie for fifth in this category. All in this gives it a slightly higher overall rating than the flan, but remember you should only really compare ratings between dishes of the same length.

 Bee theme

 09/03/16 Goals
 09/03/16 Update

The Honey Ribs sadly do not have a quality XP gain to counteract the dodgy performance on profit and portions. You can see straight off that this was going to be the case - for two hours more work you get just 2 XP more, which is an appalling scaling.

On we go, with the Honey Bear and Bella Beekeeper both unearthed in the 'sidestep' goals. Each is a small 1x1 floor decoration, although that doesn't necessarily mean we should be writing them off. The bear is really cute with its jars of honey and the bees hovering around for afters. And in fairness there's appears to be plenty of spilt honey hanging around for gathering, despite the bear's best efforts to use its tongue to clean up.

The beekeeper is another cheery addition, with a young girl all dressed up in a bee costume. With a yellow and black striped dress, an antennae headband, and a pair of glittery wings, Bella seems to be taking her role of beekeeper very seriously indeed. I imagine this will be a really handy decoration for Halloween when everyone is dressed up in outrageous attire.

We'll move on now to the second fresh appliance, which is the Honey Oven, and needs the new Bee Knob as a component part.

Honey Oven recipes

Again I'm salivating, mostly at the honey that is oozing down the side of the Honey Cake. I'm not really a fan of nuts, yet even I am impressed by the almonds scattered on top. And the Honey Ribs comes with extra honey for pouring. Lovely!

Honey Carrots
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	1	8	5	3.5

Honey Cake
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	4	2	10	5	3.6

Honey Ribs
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	3	1	10	5	3.4

Statistically these dishes are less interesting than those that came before it, with the profit and XP numbers being pretty mediocre. It's the profit figures which stand out, and not for good reasons.  All three rank towards the bottom of their respective durations, with the Honey Ribs fairing especially poorly - they chart in a tie for second worst in the 9 hour bracket.

All that remains is the final goal prize, the Beekeeper Cafe. As you'd expect it is 4x4 in size and is bursting with detail. Along with some very happy looking bots this piece features a long wooden bench for them to sit and enjoy their honey based treats, chief among which is a large cake topped with a bee.

Strangely a lot of the other delicacies included in the buffet don't at a glance seem to have a connection to bees or honey, which is somewhat baffling. I see biscuits, strawberry drinks and fruit all of which is unlikely to directly include honey as an ingredient. But there is a dispenser brimming with honey to one side which you could use to change that I guess!

And so we reach the end of another goals content report. Admittedly I wasn't all that convinced by the bee theme when I first saw it, but it has certainly grown on me over the course of the last week. It makes for a nice alternative introduction to the Spring season, and has provided some unique items which are certainly usable in scenes other than that of a bee farm. So the verdict is a firm thumbs up from me!