Esoteric Games has announced Queenright: A Beekeeping Simulator, a game in which players can open living hives, count mites, and raise queen bees. Developed on actual bee science by a real-life beekeeping expert, the game will be coming soon to PC via Steam.

In Queenright, each hive runs on real bee biology, and the colony model is checked against references and beekeeping texts. Nothing in the game is scripted; for example, a colony that isn’t treated for Varroa mites may head into the winter months with damaged bees, just as they would in a real hive.

Players will be able to enjoy the realism of lifting and reading frames of comb with thousands of living bees, while carefully locating and marking the colony’s queen. They will need to count mites with a sugar roll, choose from five treatments modeled after real ones, spot the signs of a coming swarm, successfully split colonies, graft their own queens, and bring in honey across all four seasons.

If it sounds like a lot of work, have no fear: the game is designed to be cozy by default, with eight realism switches for players who might want the highest levels of real-world beekeeping as they possibly can.

It’s a great way to learn all about the joys of beekeeping without any real-life equipment or fear of getting stung. Players will learn about reading brood, spotting a colony that’s planning to swarm, finding and marking a queen, and more. In case you were wondering, “Queenright” is the beekeeper’s word for a colony with a healthy, laying queen: your overall goal in the game.

There is a cast of characters to meet in the game through the townsfolk, such as Dale, who brings catalog orders, Toby, who buys jars of honey for his gran’s honey cake, and more. There are also four festivals that take place around the year to take part in.

You can take a look at the announcement trailer for Queenright: A Beekeeping Simulator below.