Haha you aren't alone, I tried to put lots of hints but it's hard to get a good sense of where the line between overly confusing and too hand-holdy is until people actually play it, and I think I erred on the side of confusing. Thanks for playing and giving it a shot, the feedback is really helpful!
There's a secret path in the hive that you can find to become immune to the mushrooms after getting the first flower :)