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Bee nests are naturally generated blocks that house bees.

Beehives are crafted versions of bee nests.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Bee nest in superflat village

A naturally generated bee nest in a Superflat village.

Naturally generated bee nests generate with 3 bees in them.

Bee nests generate in the following biomes with different chances:

Biome Chance[note 1]
JE BE
Meadow
100%
Plains
Sunflower plains
5%
Flower forest 2% 3%
Forest
Birch forest
Old growth birch forest
0.2% 0.035%
  1. The chance for each naturally-generated oak or birch tree to have a bee nest.

Bee nests are most commonly found in the flower forest biome because of its high tree and flower density.

Breaking

Beehives and bee nests can be mined by any tool or by the player's fist, though they break faster with an axe.

If a bee nest is broken with a tool not enchanted with Silk Touch, it drops nothing and any bees inside emerge angry at the player. If a Silk Touch tool is used, the bee nest drops itself and any bees inside remain inside.

If a beehive is destroyed with a Silk Touch tool, bees outside the hive become angry‌[Bedrock Edition only], while those kept within it remain neutral even after the hive is placed again.

If broken in Creative mode with bees inside, the beehive or nest drops itself and bees inside remain 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
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Crafting

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Any Planks +
Honeycomb

Beehives can be crafted in a crafting table. Bee nests occur naturally and cannot be crafted.

Post-generation

Oak or birch 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 1–3 bees. This holds true in any biome in any dimension, and for any flower including wither roses and flowering azaleas.

Usage

Bee housing

HoneyDropletsExample

Dripping honey.

Bee nests and beehives can house up to 3 bees at a time. They can enter through any unobstructed side, top, or bottom, but can exit only from the front, and only if it's unobstructed by a solid block (including a non-full solid block in Bedrock Edition).

Bees fly into a nest or hive at night, during rain, and after loading up with pollen from a flower. They first look for one at the same coordinates as the last one they entered, but if there's no nest or hive there or it already contains 3 bees when they arrive, they search the nearby area for another one.

Igniting a nest or hive allows any bees inside to escape, possibly catching fire as they flee.

Harvesting

The campfire is set into the ground and covered by a carpet to prevent the fire from damaging the bees.

Bees are protected from a campfire by placing a carpet over it.‌[Java Edition only]

Once full, bee nests and beehives provide two harvestable products: honey and honeycomb.

Each time a bee enters a nest or hive covered in pollen, it starts converting it to honey and honeycomb. After it's done, it waits for daylight with no rain (if necessary), then exits to go collect more pollen. When the bee exits, the hive increments its honey level by 1, to a maximum of 5. Once it's full, it changes its appearance to show honey oozing out and, if the block below it isn't a full solid block, starts dripping honey particles. (The dripping honey is decorative; it cannot be collected in a cauldron.) These changes signal that the hive or nest is ready for harvesting.

To harvest honey, the player uses a glass bottle on the nest or hive; the bottle then becomes a honey bottle. To harvest honeycomb, the player uses shears on the nest or hive, causing it to drop three honeycomb items. After harvesting, the hive or nest is reset to empty (honey level 0, with the default appearance).

Alternatively, honey or honeycomb can be harvested by powering a redstone dispenser containing either a glass bottle or shears. The dispenser must be placed beside and facing the hive or nest.

Harvesting from a beehive or bee nest causes any bees inside it to become aggravated toward the player, unless there is a fire directly beneath it or a lit campfire within five blocks below it with no obstruction between them. Placing a carpet above the campfire prevents bees from taking fire damage while hovering over it. In Java Edition, the smoke coming through the carpet also calms the bees. In Bedrock Edition a carpet is treated as an obstruction that removes the calming effect of the campfire's smoke. Without a carpet, the bees can still avoid fire damage if the campfire is placed 4–5 blocks below the nest.

Redstone component

Beehives and bee nests have comparator output with a strength equal to the honey level in the block. Once the beehive or bee nest is filled with honey it emits a signal strength of five.

Note Blocks

Beehives and bee nests can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass" sound.

Fuel

In Bedrock Edition, beehives and bee nests can be used as fuel in a furnace, smelting 1.5 items per block.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.wood.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.wood.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.wood.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.wood.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.wood.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.wood1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.wood1.00.8
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.wood0.230.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.wood0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.wood0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.wood0.121.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.wood0.181.0

Unique

Note red
This page would benefit from the addition of more sounds. 
Please remove this notice once you've added suitable sounds to the article.
The specific instructions are: Honey bottle collection sound event

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Honey dripsBlocksHoney particle hits a blockblock.beehive.dripsubtitles.block.beehive.drip0.1 - 0.3 [check the code]0.7 / 0.916
Bee enters hiveBlocksBee enters a blockblock.beehive.entersubtitles.block.beehive.enter1.00.7 / 0.814
Bee leaves hiveBlocksBee exits a blockblock.beehive.exitsubtitles.block.beehive.exit1.00.9 / 1.0 / 1.114
Shears scrapeFriendly CreaturesCollecting honeycombsblock.beehive.shearsubtitles.block.beehive.shear0.80.8 / 0.9 / 1.016
Bees workBlocksRandom when a bee is insideblock.beehive.worksubtitles.block.beehive.work0.61.012

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormBlock tags (JE)Translation key
Bee Nestbee_nestBlock & Itembeehivesblock.minecraft.bee_nest
BeehivebeehiveBlock & Itembeehivesblock.minecraft.beehive
NameIdentifier
Block entitybeehive

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormTranslation key
Bee Nestbee_nest473Block & Giveable Item[i 1]tile.bee_nest.name
Beehivebeehive474Block & Giveable Item[i 1]tile.beehive.name
  1. a b Available with /give command.
NameSavegame ID
Block entityBeehive

Metadata

See also: data values

Aside from an east-facing honeyless beehive, no beehives can be placed or tested for with metadata.

Block states

Java Edition:

Name Default value Allowed values Description
facingnortheast
north
south
west
The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the block.
honey_level00
1
2
3
4
5
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.

Bedrock Edition:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
directionNot Supported00
1
2
3
UnsupportedThe direction the block faces.
  • 0: south
  • 1: west
  • 2: north
  • 3: east
honey_levelNot Supported00
1
2
3
4
5
UnsupportedEvery 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 beehive has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

  • Block entity data
    • Tags common to all block entities
    •  Bees: Entities currently in the hive.
      • An entity in the hive.
        •  EntityData: The NBT data of the entity in the hive.
        •  MinOccupationTicks: The minimum amount of time in ticks for this entity to stay in the hive.
        •  TicksInHive: The amount of ticks the entity has stayed in the hive.
    •  FlowerPos: Stores the location of a flower, so other bees can go to it.
      •  X: X coordinate of the flower.
      •  Y: Y coordinate of the flower.
      •  Z: Z coordinate of the flower.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawBee Our Guest
Use a Campfire to collect Honey from a Beehive using a Glass Bottle without aggravating the Bees HusbandryUse a glass bottle on a beehive or bee nest while not angering the bees inside.husbandry/safely_harvest_honey
Advancement-plain-rawTotal Beelocation
Move a Bee Nest, with 3 Bees inside, using Silk Touch Husbandryhusbandry/silk_touch_nest

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Bee our guestUse a Campfire to collect Honey from a Beehive using a Bottle without aggravating the bees.15GBronze
Total BeelocationMove and place a Bee Nest, with 3 bees inside, using Silk Touch.30GSilver

History

Java Edition
1.1519w34aBee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Bee Nest (E) JE1 Bee Nest (S) JE1 Bee Nest (W) JE1 Bee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Bee Nest Honey (E) JE1 Bee Nest Honey (S) JE1 Bee Nest (W) JE1 Added bee nests.
Beehive (N) JE1 Beehive (E) JE1 Beehive (S) JE1 Beehive (W) JE1 Beehive (N) JE1 Beehive Honey (E) JE1 Beehive Honey (S) JE1 Beehive (W) JE1 Added bee hives.
19w35aOak and birch trees generated from saplings can no longer have bee nests.
Bee nests now cannot generate unless there is air in front of the front side of the nest.
Bee hives and bee nests are now flammable.
19w36aBeehive Honey (N) JE2 Beehive Honey (E) JE2 Beehive Honey (S) JE2 Beehive Honey (W) JE2 The top and bottom texture for filled bee hives are now missing.[1]
19w37aBeehive (N) JE1 Beehive Honey (E) JE1 Beehive Honey (S) JE1 Beehive (W) JE1 The top and bottom texture for filled bee hives are now fixed.
19w41a"Bee hive" has been renamed to "Beehive."
19w42a"Bee nest" has been renamed to "Bee Nest."
19w46aBees now exit hives only from the front.
Hives no longer drop in creative mode, unless they contain bees.
1.15.2Pre-Release 1Oak and birch saplings grown within 2 blocks of a flower on the same y-level have a 5% chance to have a bee nest.
Bee nests now have a 2% chance to spawn in flower forests.
Bee nests now have a 0.2% chance to spawn in forest, wooded hills, birch forest, tall birch forest, birch forest hills, and tall birch hills biomes.
1.1620w13aBee nests now appear yellow on maps.
1.18experimental snapshot 2Bee nests now have a high chance[more information needed] to spawn in mountain meadows.
21w39aBee nests now have a 100% chance to spawn in mountain meadows.
Bedrock Edition
1.14.0beta 1.14.0.1Bee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Bee Nest (E) BE1 Bee Nest (S) BE1 Bee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Bee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Bee Nest Honey (E) BE1 Bee Nest Honey (S) BE1 Bee Nest (N) JE1 BE1 Added bee nests.
Beehive (N) BE1 Beehive (E) BE1 Beehive (S) BE1 Beehive (W) BE1 Beehive (N) BE1 Beehive Honey (E) BE1 Beehive Honey (S) BE1 Beehive (W) BE1 Added beehives.
beta 1.14.0.3"Bee nest" has been renamed to "Bee Nest."
1.16.0beta 1.15.0.51Oak and birch saplings grown within 2 blocks of a flower on the same y-level now have a 5% chance to have a bee nest.
beta 1.16.0.57Bee nests now have a 3% chance to generate in flower forest.
Bee nests now have a 5% chance to generate in plains and sunflower plains.
Bee nests now have a 0.035% chance to generate in forest, wooded hills, birch forest, tall birch forest, birch forest hills, and tall birch hills biomes.
1.16.100beta 1.16.100.54Now appear yellow on maps.

Issues

Issues relating to "Beehive" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

See also

Trivia

  • Bee Nests cannot be moved using a piston.

Gallery

References

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