The Hivers should know pretty much everything the Imperium knew about the Droyne, since such knowledge wouldn't be a massive state secret, though a few things, such the location and details of significant Ancient sites probably would been highly classified and thus not something that the Hivers (or much of anyone else) would have known.
It is pretty firmly established that the Hivers saw Humanity as the most "useful" race for creating a stable neighbor on their flank, thus they would have probably not had an interest in manipulating Droyne. Indeed the Droyne may be "wired" to resist such head games by Grandfather. Speaking of him, remember that he is not above deciding that a group of Droyne are getting too "uppity" and proceed to smack them back down (he has done this in the past). The Droyne probably have a racial memory of this fact, which helps to explain why they aren't particularly enthusiastic about teaming up with anyone to create a star spanning empire.
As for the manufacture of starships, to me it would make far more sense to standard on a tech level for all components, then provide any lower tech worlds who are manufacturing components with the manufacturing equipment necessary to churn out their parts. We see examples of this everyday in manufacturing, including the computer industry. Another example I like to cite for other reasons (whenever I get into a debate with someone regarding who won the Vietnam War...) is are certain types of Nike shoes, which are manufactured in Vietnam using imported materials and equipment and then shipped around the world to Nike distributors. Shipping the means of manufacture rather than just completed components to be assembled makes more sense from a business perspective, since it is highly probable that it is more cost effective, not to mention it helps to eliminate logistical bottlenecks/snafus.
So in the case of the Jayhawk-class far trader, you would want to crank those out using Imperial spec TL 12 components, since besides being more cost effective, it would have the additional bonus of allowing any Far Traders found as the RC expands to be put back into service much faster or if they are beyond salvage, make them more useful as a source of spare parts (and for a far trader operating in the Wilds, that could be a life saving feature...). The Hivers would be able to work with local RC worlds setting them up with the equipment, training, etc. to make their components, with final assembly at Aubaine (or the world of your choice, though Aubaine is the most logical).
It is pretty firmly established that the Hivers saw Humanity as the most "useful" race for creating a stable neighbor on their flank, thus they would have probably not had an interest in manipulating Droyne. Indeed the Droyne may be "wired" to resist such head games by Grandfather. Speaking of him, remember that he is not above deciding that a group of Droyne are getting too "uppity" and proceed to smack them back down (he has done this in the past). The Droyne probably have a racial memory of this fact, which helps to explain why they aren't particularly enthusiastic about teaming up with anyone to create a star spanning empire.
As for the manufacture of starships, to me it would make far more sense to standard on a tech level for all components, then provide any lower tech worlds who are manufacturing components with the manufacturing equipment necessary to churn out their parts. We see examples of this everyday in manufacturing, including the computer industry. Another example I like to cite for other reasons (whenever I get into a debate with someone regarding who won the Vietnam War...) is are certain types of Nike shoes, which are manufactured in Vietnam using imported materials and equipment and then shipped around the world to Nike distributors. Shipping the means of manufacture rather than just completed components to be assembled makes more sense from a business perspective, since it is highly probable that it is more cost effective, not to mention it helps to eliminate logistical bottlenecks/snafus.
So in the case of the Jayhawk-class far trader, you would want to crank those out using Imperial spec TL 12 components, since besides being more cost effective, it would have the additional bonus of allowing any Far Traders found as the RC expands to be put back into service much faster or if they are beyond salvage, make them more useful as a source of spare parts (and for a far trader operating in the Wilds, that could be a life saving feature...). The Hivers would be able to work with local RC worlds setting them up with the equipment, training, etc. to make their components, with final assembly at Aubaine (or the world of your choice, though Aubaine is the most logical).