Since they don’t bother each other unless you mess with them or their nests, Minecraft bees are considered a neutral mob. When you are stung, the bee loses its stinger and eventually perishes, just like in real life. Which, hopefully, will convince you to avoid it or, you know, just treat the bee with respect.
Minecraft bees are adorable, resourceful, and just want to live a good life by collecting pollen and assisting you in growing your crops. They can be used to gather honey or create your very own beehive, but they don’t like the rain and sleep at night, which is sweet.
Natural generation
Naturally generated bee nests generate with 3 bees in them. In Java Edition, the bee nests always face south, whereas they face a random direction in the Bedrock Edition. [1].
Bee nests generate in the following biomes with different chances:
- The likelihood that each naturally occurring oak, birch, or mangrove tree will contain a bee nest.
BreakingSee also:
Beehives and bee nests can be destroyed with any tool or the player’s fist, but an axe will do it more quickly.
A bee nest that is broken with a tool that isn’t Silk Touch enchanted doesn’t drop anything, and any bees that were inside come out angry at the player. The bee nest will automatically collapse if a Silk Touch tool is used, and any bees inside will stay there.
Bees won’t become enraged if a Silk Touch tool is used to destroy a beehive.
When a beehive or nest is destroyed in Creative mode while bees are inside, the bees inside stay inside.
| Block | Bee Nest | Beehive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 0.3 | 0.6 | |
| Tool | |||
| Breaking time[A] | |||
| Default | 0.45 | 0.9 | |
| Wooden | 0.25 | 0.45 | |
| Stone | 0.15 | 0.25 | |
| Iron | 0.1 | 0.15 | |
| Diamond | 0.1 | 0.15 | |
| Netherite | 0.05 | 0.1 | |
| Golden | 0.05 | 0.1 | |
- Times are measured in seconds for unenchanted tools used by players with no status effects. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Any Planks +Honeycomb | [Java Edition only] | |
| Matching Planks +Honeycomb | [Bedrock and Education editions only] |
Beehives can be crafted in a crafting table. Bee nests occur naturally and cannot be crafted.
Oak, birch, or mangrove trees grown from saplings that are within 2 blocks (including diagonally) of a flower on the same y-level have a 5% chance to grow with a bee nest containing 1%E2%80%933 bees This is true for any flower, including wither roses and flowering azaleas, in any biome in any dimension.
Bee housing
Up to three bees can live simultaneously in bee nests and hives. They can exit only from the front and only if it is not blocked by a solid block (including a non-full solid block in Bedrock Edition), and they can enter through any unobstructed side, top, or bottom.
When it rains, at night, or right after they have collected enough pollen from a flower, bees fly into a nest or hive. When they arrive, they first try to find one at the same coordinates as the last one they entered, but if there isn’t a nest or hive there or it already has three bees there, they look around for another one.
Any bees inside a nest or hive can escape by being set on fire and may catch fire as they run away.
HarvestingSee also:
Honey and honeycomb are two products that can be harvested from bee nests and hives once they are full.
A bee begins turning pollen into honey and honeycomb each time it enters a nest or hive that is covered in it. When it’s finished, it waits until it’s no longer dark and doesn’t rain (if necessary), then leaves to go gather more pollen. The hive raises its honey level by one when a bee leaves, up to a maximum of five. When it is full, it begins to drip honey particles if the block beneath it isn’t a full solid block and changes appearance to show honey oozing out. (The honey that is dripping is ornamental; it cannot be collected in a cauldron. These modifications indicate the hive or nest is prepared for harvesting.
The player places a glass bottle on the nest or hive to collect honey; the bottle then transforms into a honey bottle. When the player uses shears on the nest or hive to harvest honeycomb, three honeycomb items are dropped. The hive or nest is reset to empty (honey level 0, with the default appearance) after harvesting.
Alternately, you can power a redstone dispenser with a glass bottle or shears to harvest honey or honeycomb. The dispenser needs to be put next to and facing the nest or hive.
Unless there is a fire directly beneath it or a lit campfire within five blocks below, and the smoke is not blocked, harvesting from a beehive or bee nest makes any bees inside it hostile toward the player. There can only be one solid block directly above the campfire for smoke to pass through. A carpet placed over the campfire allows the bees to stay below the nest without suffering fire damage. The smoke from the carpet in Java Edition also soothes the bees. A carpet is treated in Bedrock Edition as a barrier that negates the calming effects of campfire smoke. If the campfire is set up four to five blocks below the nest, the bees can still prevent fire damage without a block covering it.
Redstone component
Comparator output from beehives and bee nests is as strong as the amount of honey in the block. When the honeycomb or bee nest is full, it emits a signal with a strength of five.
Note Blocks
To create a “bass” sound, note blocks can be placed beneath beehives and bee nests.
Beehives and bee nests can be used as fuel in a furnace in the Bedrock Edition, smelting 1 5 items per block.
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip4.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip5.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip6.ogg | Honey drips | Blocks | When a honey drip particle hits a block | block.beehive.drip |
subtitles.block.beehive.drip |
0.09-0.3 | varies [sound 1] | 8 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_enter.ogg | Bee enters hive | Blocks | When a bee enters a beehive | block.beehive.enter |
subtitles.block.beehive.enter |
1.0 | 0.7/0.8 | 14 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_exit.ogg | Bee leaves hive | Blocks | When a bee exits a beehive | block.beehive.exit |
subtitles.block.beehive.exit |
1.0 | 0.9/1.0/1.1 | 14 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_shear.ogg | Shears scrape | Blocks | When honeycombs are harvested from a beehive | block.beehive.shear |
subtitles.block.beehive.shear |
0.8 | 1.0/0.8/0.9 | 16 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work4.ogg | Bees work | Blocks | Randomly while a bee is inside | block.beehive.work |
subtitles.block.beehive.work |
0.6 | 1.0 | 12 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Bottle_fill_water1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Bottle_fill_water2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Bottle_fill_water3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Bottle_fill_water4.ogg | Bottle fills | Friendly Creatures | When a bottle is filled with honey | item.bottle.fill |
subtitles.item.bottle.fill |
1.0 | 1.0 | 16 |
- ↑ Can be 0.7 or 0.9 for each sound
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_drip4.ogg | Blocks | When a honey drip particle hits a block | block.beehive.drip |
0.3 | 0.7-0.9 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_enter.ogg | Blocks | When a bee enters a beehive | block.beehive.enter |
0.75 | 0.7-0.8 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_exit.ogg | Blocks | When a bee exits a beehive | block.beehive.exit |
0.75 | 0.9-1.1 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_shear.ogg | Blocks | When honeycombs are collected from a beehive | block.beehive.shear |
0.8 | 0.8-1.0 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Beehive_work4.ogg | Blocks | Randomly while a bee is inside | block.beehive.work |
0.6 | 1.0 |
| https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Fill_water_bucket1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Fill_water_bucket2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Fill_water_bucket3.ogg | Blocks | When a bottle is filled with honey | bucket.fill_water |
1.0 | 1.0 |
Data values
| Name | Identifier | Form | Block tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bee Nest | bee_nest |
Block & Item | beehives |
block.minecraft.bee_nest |
| Beehive | beehive |
Block & Item | beehives |
block.minecraft.beehive |
- Blocks Direct Item Form ID, used in add-ons and savegame files
- ↑ a b Available with
/givecommand. - The block’s direct item form and its identifier are the same.
| Name | Savegame ID |
|---|---|
| Block entity | Beehive |
Block states
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| facing | north |
eastnorthsouthwest |
The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the block. |
| honey_level | 0 |
012345 |
Every pollinated bee that leaves the hive after working increases the honey level by one. When at level 5, honey can be bottled or honeycombs can be harvested. |
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| direction | Not Supported | 0 |
0123 |
Unsupported |
The direction the block faces.
|
| honey_level | Not Supported | 0 |
012345 |
Unsupported |
Every pollinated bee that leaves the hive after working increases the honey level by one. When at level 5, honey can be bottled or honeycombs can be harvested. |
Block data
A block entity associated with a beehive contains additional information about the block.
- Bees: Entities currently in the hive Block entity data Tags shared by all block entities An entity in the hive. EntityData: The NBT data of the entity in the hive. See entity format. The minimum number of ticks this entity must spend in the hive is specified by MinOccupationTicks. TicksInHive: The number of ticks that the object has spent inside the hive. Stores a flower’s location so that other bees can visit it. X: X coordinate of the flower. Y: Y coordinate of the flower. Z: Z coordinate of the flower.
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bee Our Guest | Use a Campfire to collect Honey from a Beehive using a Bottle without aggravating the bees | Husbandry | Use a glass bottle on a beehive or bee nest while not angering the bees inside. | husbandry/safely_harvest_honey |
|
| Total Beelocation | Move a Bee Nest, with 3 bees inside, using Silk Touch | Husbandry | — | husbandry/silk_touch_nest |
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Bee our guest | Use a Campfire to collect Honey from a Beehive using a Bottle without aggravating the bees. | — | 15G | Bronze | ||
| Total Beelocation | Move and place a Bee Nest, with 3 bees inside, using Silk Touch. | — | 30G | Silver | ||
Issues relating to “Beehive” are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
See also
- Artwork of Alex gathering honey from a beehive.
- Artwork of several bees near a bee nest.
- An oak tree with a bee nest.
- A bee flying next to a bee nest.
- 3 bee hives generated close to each other.
- ↑ – resolved as “Works As Intended”
- ↑
