Idle Beekeepers

A slow, calm idle game about real beekeeping. You start with one hive and your aunt's old book, and grow, over years of seasons, into the beekeeper a whole county relies on. Play a few minutes at a time: the farm carries on while you're away, and waits for you when something truly needs you.

Real beekeepingMites, swarms, queens, winter stores and weather, from real research. Every book you read in the game is the real thing.
You only know what you sawA hive tells you nothing until you open it, and only on a warm, dry day. Learn to read the entrance and the weight of the box.
From one hive to hundredsOut-yards, staff, a honey house, a workshop, candles and mead, a brand, contracts and projects for the whole county.
A farm that outlives youPass the book to your heir and keep the farm in the family, or leave it at the co-op for someone like you.

Year 1, spring

One hive

A parcel came with your aunt's old beekeeping book. A year of reading later, you left your job for a run-down farm at the end of a lane, one overwintered colony and a few jars of last year's honey. Before the first warm day there is little to do but lift the hive to feel its weight, and read.

Your first colony, on a phone — Your first colony
What you see is what you last saw: "seen 2 days ago, it may have changed". Bees don't report in; you open the hive to know.

Your first colony, on a computer — Your first colony
What you see is what you last saw: "seen 2 days ago, it may have changed". Bees don't report in; you open the hive to know.

A visit to the hive, on a phone — A visit to the hive
Inspect, heft, watch the entrance, add a box. A day has only so many hive visits, and a cold day keeps the lid on.

A visit to the hive, on a computer — A visit to the hive
Inspect, heft, watch the entrance, add a box. A day has only so many hive visits, and a cold day keeps the lid on.

The aunt's book, on a phone — The aunt's book
Every book in the game is real beekeeping, chapter by chapter, and reading one is how new work opens up.

The aunt's book, on a computer — The aunt's book
Every book in the game is real beekeeping, chapter by chapter, and reading one is how new work opens up.

Year 1, summer

The first honey

By midsummer the boxes on top are heavy. You take them off when the honey is capped, spin it out, jar it, and the honesty box at the gate starts to fill with coins.

The first 24 kg, on a phone — The first 24 kg
Your own honey in the storeroom, ready for the gate, the co-op and the first customer orders.

The first 24 kg, on a computer — The first 24 kg
Your own honey in the storeroom, ready for the gate, the co-op and the first customer orders.

Year 2

Growing

A strong colony split in spring, a swarm caught in a bait hive, a field rented at the orchard. The co-op sells what you need, and the calendar says what the bees are doing and what the week's weather allows.

The farm, on a phone — The farm
The home yard follows the seasons, and every hive on it is one you can tap.

The farm, on a computer — The farm
The home yard follows the seasons, and every hive on it is one you can tap.

The co-op, on a phone — The co-op
Sugar for winter, strips for the mites, boxes, queens and nucs. Most of the money in beekeeping goes on keeping colonies alive.

The co-op, on a computer — The co-op
Sugar for winter, strips for the mites, boxes, queens and nucs. Most of the money in beekeeping goes on keeping colonies alive.

The beekeeping year, on a phone — The beekeeping year
The week's weather, when the nectar flows, when swarms come, when to treat and when to feed.

The beekeeping year, on a computer — The beekeeping year
The week's weather, when the nectar flows, when swarms come, when to treat and when to feed.

Year 9

A working apiary

Forty colonies across five yards and hands to help with them. A honey house, a workshop building your own boxes, candles and mead from the wax and the honey, a shop at the farm gate and buyers who know your name.

Forty colonies at a glance, on a phone — Forty colonies at a glance
The work of a whole yard in a tap, and a warning for the ones that need you.

Forty colonies at a glance, on a computer — Forty colonies at a glance
The work of a whole yard in a tap, and a warning for the ones that need you.

The home yard, grown, on a phone — The home yard, grown
The honey house, the workshop and the cellar, out-yards at the orchard, the lime avenue and the heath.

The home yard, grown, on a computer — The home yard, grown
The honey house, the workshop and the cellar, out-yards at the orchard, the lime avenue and the heath.

Selling, on a phone — Selling
Set your prices, fill the farm shop, take orders from delis and the Christmas market, build a brand.

Selling, on a computer — Selling
Set your prices, fill the farm shop, take orders from delis and the Christmas market, build a brand.

The workshop, on a phone — The workshop
Winter work: frames and boxes from your own timber, and honey dippers, bee hotels and chess boards to sell.

The workshop, on a computer — The workshop
Winter work: frames and boxes from your own timber, and honey dippers, bee hotels and chess boards to sell.

Achievements, on a phone — Achievements
Ninety-nine of them, kept across every farm you ever start. Some unlock hive paints, jar labels and signs for the gate.

Achievements, on a computer — Achievements
Ninety-nine of them, kept across every farm you ever start. Some unlock hive paints, jar labels and signs for the gate.

Year 21

The county's beekeeper

Hundreds of colonies, and money stops being the point. You pay for hedgerows across the county, a bee school, a programme that spreads your hardiest queens, and a Foundation that keeps the county's bees well after you. Then, one Tuesday at the co-op, there is someone at the counter who looks the way you did.

A county-sized farm, on a phone — A county-sized farm
Out-yards across the county, a rape field and a commercial holding, a truck for pollination contracts.

A county-sized farm, on a computer — A county-sized farm
Out-yards across the county, a rape field and a commercial holding, a truck for pollination contracts.

What the farm leaves behind, on a phone — What the farm leaves behind
Filling lines and extraction lines, and the county projects: the last goal isn't money, it's what the farm leaves behind.

What the farm leaves behind, on a computer — What the farm leaves behind
Filling lines and extraction lines, and the county projects: the last goal isn't money, it's what the farm leaves behind.

Start with one hive

Play in your browser

It plays in your browser and installs like an app. Your farm is saved on your device. The pictures are of version 0.52.0, taken from farms the game's own test players kept.

Your first colony

A visit to the hive

The aunt's book

The first 24 kg

The farm

The co-op

The beekeeping year

Forty colonies at a glance

The home yard, grown

Selling

The workshop

Achievements

A county-sized farm

What the farm leaves behind

Start with one hive