Bee Nest

Bee Nest

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Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64) without bees inside No with bee(s) inside
Tool
Blast resistance	0.3
Hardness	0.3
Luminous	No
Transparent	No
Flammable	Yes (30)
Catches fire from lava	Yes
Map color (Java)	18 COLOR_YELLOW

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A bee nest is a naturally occuring block that houses bees. They fill with honey as bees pollinate flowers and return to their homes and, when full, can either be sheared for honeycombs or honey bottles extracted using glass bottles.

Obtaining

Breaking

Bee nests can be broken 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, stinging them and causing poison. Nearby bees will also become angry and attack. If a Silk Touch tool is used, the bee nest drops itself and any bees inside remain inside, and any bees nearby do not become angry.

If broken in Creative mode with bees inside, the bee nest drops itself and bees inside remain inside.

Block	Bee Nest
Hardness	0.3
Tool
Breaking time (sec)
Default	0.45
Wooden	0.25
Stone	0.15
Iron	0.1
Diamond	0.1
Netherite	0.05
Golden	0.05
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

Legend

• drops nothing
• drops something other than the block itself
• drops the block itself
• italicized can be instant mined

Natural generation

A naturally generated bee nest in a village in a Superflat world.

Naturally generated bee nests generate with 2-3 bees in them. The bee nests always face south.

Bee nests generate in the following biomes with different chances:

Biome	Chance
	Java Edition	Bedrock Edition
Meadow	100%
Cherry grove	5%	Unknown
Plains Sunflower plains	5%
Mangrove swamp	1%
Flower forest	2%	3%
Forest Birch forest Old growth birch forest	0.2%	0.035%

Post-generation

Oak, birch, or cherry 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 2–3 bees. This holds true in any biome in any dimension, and for any flower including wither roses and flowering azaleas.

Mangroves grown from mangrove propagules have a 1% chance of having a bee nest containing 2-3 bees. Unlike birch, cherry and oak trees, no flowers are required for a bee nest to generate.

Usage

Bee housing

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

Bees are protected from a campfire by placing a carpet over it in Java Edition.

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. If the bee hive or nest is in the Nether or in the End the bee exits as soon as it converts the pollen. When the bee exits, the hive increments its honey level by 1 and has a 1% chance to increment it by 2. Once it has the maximum honey level of 5, 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.

This is the maximum distance a beehive can be from a campfire while applying the calming effect (5 blocks).

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, and the smoke is not obstructed. Smoke can pass through no more than one solid block, and only if that block is directly above the campfire. Placing a carpet above the campfire leaves room for the bees to hover beneath the nest and still avoid taking fire damage. 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 block covering the fire, 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.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

[hide] v t e wood sound type
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.wood.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.wood.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.wood.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.wood.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.wood.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

[hide] v t e normal sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.27	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.3	1.0
	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	0.12	1.0
	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	0.22	1.0

Unique

Java Edition:

[hide] v t e Sounds
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Honey drips	Blocks	When a honey drip particle hits a block	block.beehive.drip	subtitles.block.beehive.drip​	0.09-0.3	varies	8
	​Bee enters hive	Blocks	When a bee enters a bee nest	block.beehive.enter	subtitles.block.beehive.enter​	1.0	0.7/0.8	14
	​Bee leaves hive	Blocks	When a bee exits a bee nest	block.beehive.exit	subtitles.block.beehive.exit​	1.0	0.9/1.0/1.1	14
	​Shears scrape	Blocks	When honeycombs are harvested from a bee nest	block.beehive.shear	subtitles.block.beehive.shear​	0.8	1.0/0.8/0.9	16
	​Bees work	Blocks	Randomly while a bee is inside	block.beehive.work	subtitles.block.beehive.work​	0.6	1.0	12
	​Bottle fills	Blocks	When a bottle is filled with honey	item.bottle.fill	subtitles.item.bottle.fill​	1.0	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

[hide] v t e Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	When a honey drip particle hits a block	block.beehive.drip	0.3	0.7-0.9
	Blocks	When a bee enters a bee nest	block.beehive.enter	0.75	0.7-0.8
	Blocks	When a bee exits a bee nest	block.beehive.exit	0.75	0.9-1.1
	Blocks	When honeycombs are collected from a bee nest	block.beehive.shear	0.8	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	Randomly while a bee is inside	block.beehive.work	0.6	1.0
	Blocks	When a bottle is filled with honey	bucket.fill_water	1.0	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	[hide]Translation key
Bee Nest	bee_nest	Block & Item	beehives	block.minecraft.bee_nest

Name	[hide]Identifier
Block entity	beehive

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	[hide]Translation key
Bee Nest	bee_nest	473	Block & Giveable Item	Identical	tile.bee_nest.name

Name	[hide]Savegame ID
Block entity	Beehive

Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	[hide]Description
facing	north	east north south west	The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the block.
honey_level	0	0 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:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	[hide]Description
direction	Not Supported	0	0 1 2 3	Unsupported	The direction the block faces. 0: south 1: west 2: north 3: east
honey_level	Not Supported	0	0 1 2 3 4 5	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 bee nest has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template[show]
  • [NBT List / JSON Array] bees: Entities currently in the hive.
    • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] An entity in the hive.
      • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] entity_data: The NBT data of the entity in the hive.
        • See entity format.
      • [Int] min_ticks_in_hive: The minimum amount of time in ticks for this entity to stay in the nest.
      • [Int] ticks_in_hive: The amount of ticks the entity has stayed in the nest.
  • [Int Array] flower_pos: Stores the flower block location, as 3 integers, so other bees can go to it.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Item data

Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] components: the item's components tag.
  • [NBT List / JSON Array] minecraft:bees: The entities currently in the beehive or bee nest.
    • [NBT Compound / JSON Object]: A single entity.
      • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] entity_data: The NBT data of the entity in the hive.
        • See Entity format.
      • [Int] min_ticks_in_hive: The minimum amount of time in ticks for this entity to stay in the hive.
      • [Int] ticks_in_hive: The amount of ticks the entity has stayed in the hive.

Bedrock Edition:

Achievements

[hide]
Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Total Beelocation	Move and place a Bee Nest, with 3 bees inside, using Silk Touch.	—	30	Silver

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Bee Our Guest	Use a Campfire to collect Honey from a Beehive using a Glass Bottle without aggravating the Bees	Use a glass bottle on a beehive or bee nest while not angering the bees inside.
	Total Beelocation	Move a Bee Nest, with 3 Bees inside, using Silk Touch	Unlike most other advancements, this advancement is granted upon breaking the nest, rather than it entering your inventory.

History

[hide]Java Edition
1.15			19w34a				Added bee nests.
			19w35a				Oak 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 nests are now flammable.
			19w42a				"Bee nest" has been renamed to "Bee Nest".
1.15.2			Pre-Release 1				Oak and birch saplings grown within 2 blocks of a flower on the same Y-level have a 5% chance to have a bee nest, making bee nests a renewable resource.
							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.
1.16			20w13a				Bee nests now appear yellow on maps.
1.18			experimental snapshot 2				Bee nests now have a high chance to spawn in meadows.​
			21w39a				Bee nests now have a 100% chance to spawn in meadows.
1.19			22w14a				Bee nests now have a 5% chance to spawn in mangrove trees as well as inside mangrove swamps.
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			23w07a				Bee nests now have a 5% chance to spawn in cherry trees as well as inside cherry groves.
1.21.2			24w35a				Now show information about their level of honey and number of bees in their tooltip.
							Now use their "full" texture when held or in the inventory, and they are at max level of honey.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.14.0			beta 1.14.0.1				Added bee nests.
			beta 1.14.0.3				"Bee nest" has been renamed to "Bee Nest".
1.16.0			beta 1.15.0.51				Oak 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 1.16.0.57				Bee 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.
1.16.100			beta 1.16.100.54				Now appear yellow on maps.
1.18.30			beta 1.18.20.27				Breaking a bee nest with Silk Touch no longer angers bees.
1.19.0			beta 1.19.0.20				Bee nests now have a chance to spawn in mangrove trees as well as inside mangrove swamps.
1.20.30			Preview 1.20.20.21				Decreased the blast resistance of bee nests from 2.7 to 0.3.
1.21.40			Preview 1.21.40.20				Bee nests can no longer be used as fuel in a furnace.

Issues

Issues relating to "Bee Nest" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

See also

• Beehive
• Tutorials/Honey farming

Gallery

Renders

Bee nest

• 

  Facing south

• 

  Facing west

• 

  Facing north

• 

  Facing east

• 

  Facing south, with honey

• 

  Facing west, with honey

• 

  Facing north, with honey

• 

  Facing east, with honey

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

On tree

• 

  An oak tree with a bee nest.

Screenshots

• 

  A bee flying next to a bee nest.

• 

  3 bee hives generated close to each other.

• 

  2 bee nests found close together, found in birch forest.

In other media

• 

  Artwork of several bees near a bee nest.