A Beekeeper's Guide to Minecraft Bees

Bees are a favorite in Minecraft for lots of reasons. Some players want to create elaborate bee farms. Others, like myself, just like watching these cute little creatures fly around. Regardless of your interest in Minecraft bees, there's plenty to learn. The game has many different mechanics related to bees, like where to find them and how to get them into nests. I'm here to share all of that with you.

All About Minecraft Bees: Where They Appear, How to Breed Them, and More

Bees function in similar ways in both the Bedrock and Java editions of Minecraft. I'll point out any differences you should know about.

What Do Bees Do in Minecraft?

Bees in Minecraft are peaceful creatures. They usually don't attack players or other creatures unless they're bothered. But, if they are bothered, bees can be dangerous because they attack as a group. Each sting gives a poison effect. There are only adult bees and baby bees in the game.

Getting to Know Bees

Here are some helpful facts about bees:

• Unlike ghasts, bees don't actually fly in Minecraft. They usually stay a few blocks above the ground.
• They're classified as arthropods. So, one of the better sword enchantments, Bane of Arthropods, does a lot of damage to them.
• Bees usually don't go more than 22 blocks from their home. However, they may go a bit farther if they're attacked or looking for flowers.
• Bees can't go through trap doors or normal doors unless you guide them with a flower. Though, baby bees can get through these gaps easily.

Why Bees and Their Products Matter

Bees, much like in the real world, are valuable in Minecraft. They can produce honey and honeycombs. Both of these items have many uses in the game. You can turn honey bottles into honey blocks and sugar. Honeycombs can be used to make honeycomb blocks, beehives, candles, waxed copper blocks, slabs, and stairs.

Where to Find Bees in Minecraft

Bees can be found in meadows, plains, sunflower plains, flower forests, forests, and birch forest biomes. Meadows are the only place with a guaranteed chance of bees appearing. The other biomes have less than a 5% chance.

Making Bees Appear

In creative mode, you can use bee spawn eggs to quickly add lots of bees to your world. But, in survival mode, you can only bring bees into existence by growing oak and birch trees from saplings. However, don't get your hopes too high. There's less than a 5% chance that these saplings will grow with natural bee nests.

Where Bees Make Their Homes

Bees naturally appear and stay in bee nests. They usually live in groups. A single bee nest can have up to 3 bees, and they usually return to the nest to rest. They're also in the nests at night and when it's raining. When the bees get back, they stay inside the bee nest for about two minutes before leaving.

There's also a craftable version of bee nests called beehives. Both do the same thing and can house bees without a home. You need six wooden planks and three honeycombs to craft a beehive at a crafting table.

How to Get Bees Into a Nest

It can be tricky to get bees to adapt to new situations. Bees remember their first home. So, getting them into a new beehive can be difficult. One way to fix this is to either break down their original bee nest or fill it with other bees. A beehive (or a bee nest) can have a maximum of 3 bees. You can also bring baby bees to live in the new beehive.

What Bees Eat and How to Breed Them

Bees need flowering plants for food and breeding. They circle a flower for 30 seconds while buzzing to gather pollen. Then, bees use that pollen to create honey and help different crops grow.

Plants that attract bees include:

• Sweet berry bushes (Java only)
• Flowering azalea and its leaves
• Flowers like dandelions, poppies, blue orchids, alliums, azure bluets, tulips, daisies, cornflowers, lilies, sunflowers, lilacs, roses, and peonies
• Wither roses (which also hurt them)

You can use any of the plants from above to make the bees follow you. Then, you can breed them by feeding them the same plants. Mating in bees relies on food, like most creatures in the game. For some reason, bees don't seem to care about potted flowers.

Baby Bees

Baby bees are born when bees breed after eating flowers. A bee can give birth to more babies after 5 minutes have passed. Baby bees usually take 20 minutes, or one in-game day, to turn into adults. You can help them grow faster by giving them flowers to eat.

How Bees Help Plants Grow

Bees help plants grow by spreading pollen. When they fly over plants, it triggers growth. This is similar to using bone meal. The plants that bees can help grow include pumpkins, melons, beetroots, wheat, potatoes, carrots, berry bushes, and cave vines.

What Makes Bees Angry and How to Defend Yourself

Bees usually mind their own business and don't bother other creatures. Though, they can be scary when they're angry. Their eyes turn red, and one angry bee can make all the other bees in the area angry. Then, they attack the creature or player with poison until they're killed or until 25 seconds pass without any contact.

Bees can get angry for different reasons. For example, you can anger a bee by hitting it or destroying its beehive or nest. Bees also get upset when players take honeycombs or honey from their homes. Bees can only attack once. After that, they lose their stinger and die within a minute.

Fighting Bees

Fighting bees isn't smart, for you or for the bees. If you still want to fight them, you'd better be quick. They cause damage worth two hearts at the normal level, and their sting causes a poison effect that lasts for about 10 seconds and can make you lose around four hearts. Also, more than one bee will attack you most of the time. If you want to defend yourself, you can use a shield or armor to survive a bee attack.

What Bees Drop

Killing an adult bee doesn't drop any supplies. You can only get up to three experience orbs. But, you can get up to 7 experience orbs by breeding bees. Baby bees don't drop anything when killed. What can you do with experience orbs? Well, you need them for enchantments. Using enchanted books also needs experience orbs, so breeding bees is a good idea.

Bees in Minecraft: Java Edition Versus Bedrock Edition

Most things about bees are the same on both Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft. Though, there are a few differences you should know:

• Bees take damage when they touch water only in the Java edition.
• Sweet berry bushes attract bees only in the Java edition.
• You can keep other bees from getting angry if you kill a bee in one hit in the Java edition.
• If a beehive is destroyed, bees outside it will get angry even if you're using silk touch in the Bedrock edition.
• In the Java edition, the bee's stinger stays attached to the player and is visible, like an arrow.

Bonus: Bees Cut From the Final Version

Players have gotten used to the bees we have now. But, the developers had different ideas for how the bees would look.

Wrapping Up Our Guide to Minecraft Bees

Now you know everything you need to about bees in Minecraft. From their honey to their stinger, bees are a great creature to interact with. You just have to know how not to upset them.

There's a lot to do with bees, and it's going to take a lot of time. Don't forget to share what you like most about Minecraft bees.