Minecraft bees: how to find bees and harvest honey

Minecraft bees are a neutral Minecraft mob, meaning they’ll keep to themselves unless you mess with them or their nests – seems fair. If, like in reality, you get stung, the bee will lose its stinger and eventually die. Which should hopefully give you a reason to stay clear, or you know, just treat the bee with the respect it deserves.

The honey Minecraft bee is part of the Minecraft Java Edition, and adds what Mojang calls “a large bug” to the lineup of Minecraft mobs. Modders have already created Adventure Time and Bee Movie mods for the bee update, as well as a mod that lets you ride bees in Minecraft by attaching saddles.

Aside from being adorable, Minecraft bees are also incredibly resourceful and just want to live the good life, gathering pollen and helping you grow your crops. They don’t like rain and sleep at night – aww – but can be used to collect honey or craft your very own beehive.

Where to find bees in Minecraft

You can find Minecraft bees hanging out near bee nests in flower forests, plains, and sunflower plains biomes. They spawn naturally and can hold up to five levels of honey, and are used as a communication system between the bees in Minecraft. You can keep the bees in calm mode with smoke, by placing a campfire near a nest or hive, which is imperative if you’re collecting honeycomb or filling up your honey bottle. Just be sure to use silk touch to safely get the block with the bees stored inside, otherwise the nest will be destroyed.

How to tame Minecraft bees

There is a slight quirk to how bees behave around the player, which is that if you attack one then nearby bees will also attack you. There initial sting will do damage and can kill you, and if it doesn’t you’ll have to endure ten seconds of poison damage, too.

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Interestingly, you can also use flowers to lure bees and then attach a leash to them and bring them back to your Minecraft house.

How to harvest honey in Minecraft

Minecraft honey bottle

Using an empty glass on a hive or bee nest that is brimming with honey will give you a bottle of honey. You can use the honey bottle to craft sugar or make your very own beehive or Minecraft honey block.

Minecraft honeycomb

Using shears on a bee nest when it is at max capacity will produce honeycomb. A bee nest is more likely to get up to level if the bees are left to pass through the nests undisturbed.

How to tell when a bee nest is full

You may be wondering how you tell if bees have filled up a bee nest in Minecraft. It’s very easy to spot, but the only visual cues appear when the nest or hive is full, so there’s no way of telling if you’re at half capacity or empty. Simply look to see the beehive or nest overflowing with golden honey. After some time the hive or nest will start dripping honey.

How to make beehives in Minecraft

You can craft your own Minecraft beehive using wood planks and honeycomb. In the crafting grid, place three wood planks, of any colour, in the top three and bottom three slots, then place three honeycombs obtained from bee nests in the middle row. There you have it, a Minecraft beehive.

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Bees in Minecraft are the sweet neutral mob we’ve been waiting for, and our resourceful chums are providing much more than just the joy of seeing their fuzzy bodies bumble past on a sunny day. You can use bees to craft honey, honeycomb, build beehives, and pollinate your Minecraft farm. They even have favourite flowers, so let them bee… sorry.

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