How to farm beeswax in Minecraft

Beeswax, also known in Minecraft as honeycomb, is a material harvested from large beehives. It is used to create more beehives combined with wooden planks or candles with string.

Additionally, it can be used to create the honeycomb block, a decorative block that simulates the honeycomb look. Lastly, it can coat copper blocks in wax, preventing them from becoming further oxidized.

Given the uses of honeycomb, especially in keeping copper at whatever oxidation level it is at - great for keeping your copper the right color for a player’s specific build - players must know how to farm for an abundance of the material.

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How to set up a honeycomb farm in Minecraft

Finding beehives

A naturally spawned bee nest (Image via Minecraft)

Beehives can generate on any naturally-generated oak or birch tree. The chances for the trees to have a hive are as follows:

• Meadow (100%)
• Plains (5%)
• Sunflower plains (5%)
• Flower forest (2%)
• Forest (0.2%)
• Birch forest (0.2%)
• Old-growth birch forest (0.2%)

Due to the high density of flowers and trees, the best biome to find bees is a flower forest biome.

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Moving beehives

A player having picked up a bee nest with a silk touch axe (Image via Minecraft)

If a player wants to move the hives, they naturally find a better position to farm. They can do so. Usually, breaking a hive will cause any bees within to pop out and become hostile, and the hive does not drop. To avoid the destruction of the hive, players will need to use a silk touch enchanted item.

Any item can be used to break the hive, so long as it has the silk touch enchantment, but axes are the correct tool to use, gaining faster mining speed over other silk touch items.

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Keeping the bees calm

Fire being used to keep bees calm (Image via Minecraft)

To keep any bees within the hive from becoming hostile upon the player shearing the hive, there needs to be a source of smoke beneath the hive. This can be done in two main ways. The simplest option is to set a fire directly below the hive, as the smoke will pacify the bees within the hive.

The best way is to set up a campfire within five blocks of the hive, on the level below the hive, with nothing blocking the two. This means a campfire can pacify the bees in multiple hives.

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Getting honeycomb

Angry bees attack the player after shearing the nest (Image via Minecraft)

Once a player has at least one beehive placed wherever they want their bee farm to be, and they’ve placed the campfire below the hive, they can then shear the hive whenever it reaches honey level five.

This is indicated by honey oozing out of the hive, which is easily seen by having a gap below the hive, as it drips honey in the same way water and lava drip. Upon shearing the hive, the player will receive three beeswax.