Bees are a true asset to any Minecraft world. They buzz around, collect pollen from nearby flowers, and bring it back to their nest. In doing so, they produce plenty of honey and other products, just like real bees. And these can, of course, be farmed automatically! With this, you can then create many other blocks that you can use to decorate your world. The orange blocks look great and fit perfectly into some of the color palettes. In this article, we’ll show you how bees behave, what you need to keep in mind, and how to build an automatic farm.
Bees and Honey in Minecraft: Basics and Behavior
Bees are still a relatively new mob in Minecraft, but they are already very popular among players. They are not only practical and generate completely new resources, but they also blend seamlessly into Minecraft’s nature.
Bee Behavior in Minecraft: How They Use Pollen for Honey
You may have seen a bee buzzing around at some point. They are primarily at home in temperate forests or wide meadows with scattered trees. Flowers should also be nearby for pollen to be collected. You can find their nests on oaks or birches, which can house up to three bees. By night, bees do not fly around and stay in their nest. This is handy if you want to move the nests.
If you want to keep bees yourself, you need to collect them somehow. Wait until it gets dark (or it rains) and break the nest with Silk Touch. The bees remain stored in the block, and you can transport them. However, you don’t need the natural nests, as you can craft ones from wood and honeycombs that work the same way. These are called beehives. Bees can also be bred like any other animals. Simply use flowers for this. The new bees will then find a free spot in nests or hives.
Tip: If you want trees with nests, plant a flower right next to a sapling and let it grow. There is a 5% chance of a tree with a bee nest.
Harvesting Honey and Honeycombs: The Products of Your Bee Farm
Bee nests and beehives work identically. Both are essentially the home of the bees. There, they produce two different resources. The block must be filled with five pollen each time.
- Honey bottle: Can be collected with a glass bottle. Can be processed into sugar or a honey block, but can also be consumed.
- Honeycomb: Can be harvested with shears. Used for honeycomb blocks, candles, beehives, and waxing copper blocks.
It is important to place a campfire under the bee nest. The smoke prevents the bees from becoming aggressive when you manually harvest their products. However, with a dispenser, you can avoid this, and we will use this mechanic in the automatic farm.
How to Build an Automatic Honey Farm: Step-by-Step Guide
Even if it looks a bit complicated at first glance, an automatic farm with bees is very easy to build. The design works for both honey bottles and honeycombs. You only need glass bottles and shears and can adjust the farm to your needs. Moreover, the design can be extended infinitely, making the farm very practical.
Tip: You can also build the farm in the Nether or End, as it is neither night nor does it rain there. This means that the bees work constantly.
Materials for Your Honey Farm
For one unit:
- Hopper
- Chest
- Flower + Grass Block
- Bee Nest or Beehive
- Redstone Comparator
- 5 Redstone Dust
- Building Blocks
- 1 Slab
Step-by-Step Guide
We’ll show you how to build one unit first. Use a typical setup for a hopper and a chest. Place the nest or hive over the hopper, where the bees will produce their honey products. Finally, attach a dispenser facing the nest. It’s best to use a building block above and attach it directly from below. As explained above, you can harvest the products without doing it yourself.
Fill the dispenser with glass bottles or shears. Keep in mind that all nine slots must be full; otherwise, honey bottles and honeycombs will not be collected by the hopper.
The redstone mechanism is a breeze! It uses the comparator, which measures the signals from the nest. As explained, bees need to bring back pollen five times for the nest to be ready for harvest. We need a signal that fires exactly these five blocks from the nest to the dispenser.
For this, we build a sort of “U” lying on its side. The comparator points its two prongs into the block behind the bee nest. Then, we lay the redstone upwards to the dispenser, using a slab so the signal is not interrupted. When the nest is full, the signal reaches the dispenser and fires either the glass bottle or the shears.
Now you can line up this design as many times as you want to get as much honey as possible. The redstone does not overlap, no worries!
In front, build a small chamber for the bees, preferably at night when they are in the nests. Use glass so you can observe them. In the row next to the hoppers and between the glass, plant flowers of your choice. We have installed a small door at the beginning of the farm for easier access. It’s best to round off the farm to the right and left of the dispenser with building blocks to ensure the hoppers collect everything correctly.
That’s it! The bees are now diligently working and producing honey in their nests. All products are collected by the hoppers and sorted into the chest. Check occasionally to ensure there are enough shears and glass bottles.
Conclusion: Why an Automatic Honey Farm in Minecraft is Essential
Bees are not only really cute in Minecraft, but they are also extremely hardworking. They buzz around and collect pollen, which is then processed into honey. An automatic farm is not difficult to build and fits perfectly into any world! Continuously produce sweet resources on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and build a flourishing honey farm! Our design is easy and can be expanded as needed to harvest even more honey.
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