Crossword Genius

Reduced drink meeting desirable partners: they might smoke when taking out honey (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

beekeepers

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'might smoke when taking out honey' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'reduced drink meeting desirable partners they' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'meeting' could be 'bee' (I've seen this before) and 'bee' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'keepers' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app