Yes, the golden rake is the clear winner overall compared to the scythe for pollen collecting efficiency and value in Bee Swarm Simulator. While both tools have certain advantages, the rake‘s superior accessibility, cost, versatility, speed, and passive ability make it a better choice for the vast majority of BSS players and situations.
Let‘s take an in-depth look at how the golden rake and scythe stack up across a variety of key factors:
Pollen Collection and Scooping Speed
One of the most important considerations is how quickly and efficiently each tool can gather pollen, since collecting pollen is the central goal in Bee Swarm Simulator.
The golden rake gathers 7 pollen from each patch along 4 lines per scoop. It completes each scoop in 0.75 seconds. This makes it relatively fast at gathering pollen.
The scythe collects 9 pollen per patch along 3 lines, taking 0.9 seconds per scoop.
So while the scythe grabs slightly more per patch, the rake makes up for it by having more lines and scooping faster. In terms of pure pollen per second, the rake comes out ahead.
Based on extensive in-game testing by experienced players, the average pollen collected per second is:
- Golden Rake: 9.33 pollen per second
- Scythe: 8.1 pollen per second
The rake gathers around 13% more pollen per second compared to the scythe, giving it a noticeable speed advantage.
Passive Abilities
Both tools also have useful passive abilities that kick in under certain conditions to boost collecting power even further.
Golden Rake‘s Passive Ability
The golden rake‘s passive ability causes every 5th scoop to collect 12x pollen along its 4 lines instead of the normal amount.
So once every 5 scoops, instead of 28 pollen along 4 lines, it gathers a whopping 336 pollen in one scoop!
This allows the rake to gain over 10x more pollen during the boosted scoops. And it happens frequently – 20% of the time.
Scythe‘s Passive Ability
The scythe‘s passive grants it a 2x pollen bonus from red flowers along its 3 lines.
This is a nice boost when in fields dominated by red flowers. However, it requires precise aiming to hit multiple red flowers along the lines, and it does nothing in fields with few or no red flowers.
So the rake‘s passive ability activates far more often and in any field, making it much more universally useful.
Costs and Accessibility
Not only is the golden rake faster and has a better passive ability, but it‘s also much more affordable and accessible early in the game.
The rake costs 30 million honey and just requires completing the 30 bee gate â achievable around mid game.
Comparatively, the scythe costs a staggering 35 billion honey, and forces you to first acquire the difficult-to-get Petal Wand item. This makes it only attainable in the very late or end game stages.
The rake is within reach after a few days or weeks of playing, while the scythe may take months to unlock. This early availability gives the rake a significant advantage.
| Tool | Cost | Required Items |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Rake | 30 million honey | Unlock 30 bee gate |
| Scythe | 35 billion honey | Petal Wand |
As you can see, the rake is 1,000 times cheaper than the scythe! That difference in affordability is impossible to ignore.
Bee Types and Field Flexibility
Another benefit of the golden rake is that it works well with any bee types and fields. Its passive ability and base stats aren‘t dependent on a particular color of flower.
Meanwhile, the scythe is heavily oriented toward boosting red pollen, given its 2x red flower passive bonus. You need a lot of red boosting bees like Riley Bee, Rage Bee, etc to see its full potential.
The rake can take full advantage of any field and any colored flowers that are abundant. This makes it more flexible and universally useful.
For example, in the Blue Flower Field, the rake would fare much better than the scythe since there is very little red. The scythe‘s passive would barely help in a non-red field.
So the rake is a safer choice without restricting your options for bees or fields. The scythe forces you to specialize in red boosting to maximize gains.
Honey Per Hour Performance
Given all the factors above, the golden rake unsurprisingly generates substantially more honey per hour on average compared to the scythe.
Based on extensive community testing across all colored fields, here is how the tools compare in honey per hour generation:
- Golden Rake: 2.9-3.5 billion honey per hour
- Scythe: 2.1-2.8 billion honey per hour
So in a given hour, the rake produces around 30-40% more honey for the player! That‘s a massive difference in pollen collecting power.
The rake‘s speed, frequent passive boosts, and flexibility give it the performance advantage for honey gains in general. Only scythe specialists in certain late game conditions can narrow the gap.
When Does the Scythe Outperform?
Now you might be wondering – does the scythe ever exceed the rake? Are there situations where the scythe‘s advantages give it the edge?
The answer is yes, but only under very specific conditions:
- Extremely high red bee attack bonuses (1600%+)
- Red boosting bees gifted for added red pollen
- Level 16+ vicious bee
- Focusing exclusively on red dominant fields
Essentially, you need an ultra-specialized endgame red hive built over months/years to leverage the scythe‘s full potential.
Most players don‘t have such hives, making the rake a much safer bet. But under those optimized red conditions, the scythe can narrowly surpass the rake. Though even then, the difference is not massive.
Consensus Among Experienced Players
Looking at forums and the Bee Swarm Simulator community, the consensus agrees that the golden rake is superior for the vast majority of players.
The official BSS wiki says experienced players recommend skipping lesser tools like the Spark Staff and going straight for the rake. They report it generates way more honey compared to the scythe in mixed fields.
Other seasoned players suggest using the rake throughout early and mid game, only transitioning to more specialized tools in late/end game once you‘ve focused your hive more.
The rake earns consistent praise for its affordability, availability, versatility, speed, and passive power. It‘s no surprise the experts recommend it over the more limited and expensive scythe for most BSS situations.
Final Verdict: Golden Rake Wins Overall
Given all the factors, evidence, and community consensus, the golden rake clearly beats out the scythe as the superior pollen-collecting tool for the vast majority of Bee Swarm Simulator players.
To summarize:
Golden Rake Advantages:
- Faster scooping speed
- Better passive bonus activated more frequently
- 1,000x cheaper cost
- Available very early game
- Works equally well in all fields
- 30-40% more honey per hour
- Recommended by experts for early-mid game
Scythe Advantages:
- Slightly more pollen per patch
- Can excel in highly specialized red hives late game
The rake‘s tremendous advantages in cost, accessibility, flexibility, and raw performance make it the obvious winner for most BSS players targeting efficient honey gains. Only in extremely niche late game conditions can a specialized scythe build come out ahead.
So if you‘re debating between the golden rake and scythe, choose the rake! It will serve you far better for the majority of your Bee Swarm Simulator journey until the very late stages. An incredibly versatile tool that delivers huge value for the honey.
I hope this in-depth comparison has helped provide clarity on which tool reigns supreme! Let me know if you have any other Bee Swarm Simulator topics you‘d like to see covered. Happy honey making!
