How to get Honeycomb in Minecraft

how ton get minecraft honey from beehives — (Image credit: Mojang)

Honeycomb is the only way you'll be able to wax your copper crafts and prevent them from oxidising in Minecraft, so knowing where to find honeycomb is pretty important. Especially if you have copper golems sorting out your base, or you've decorated floor to ceiling with various copper items. Luckily, it's not too challenging to gather as long as you've got the right tools and know where to look.

A good way to start your hunt for honeycomb is by looking for bees, which spawn most frequently in meadow biomes. Venture to your nearest one, and you can start following them to their hive. But, you won't just be able to walk up to it and harvest honeycomb like you're using a chest. Here's what you need to do instead.

Where to find honeycomb in Minecraft

The key to gathering honeycombs is by locating a bee nest. But, rather than any old nest, you're looking for one that has already been pollinated and is filled with honey. This is indicated by the spots on the side of the hive, which are usually brown and dark, appearing golden and honey coloured. When you've found one, walk up to it and use shears, and up to three honeycombs will drop.

Shearing a nest or hive will anger the bees inside of the hive though, so you need to be prepared to defend yourself as these mobs pack a punch. This can be prevented by lighting a campfire or a soul campfire underneath the hive or nest which will stop the mobs from becoming hostile.

You'll also be able to craft your own beehive by using the following materials:

6 x Wooden planks
3 x Honeycomb

Place any six wooden planks along the top and bottom rows of the crafting table, and three honeycomb along the middle. Pop this outside of your house and surround it with flowers, and before long you may have a swarm of bees inhabiting it. Once filled with honey, indicated by the "lid" of the hive being outlined by the same golden colour as before, you'll be able to use shears again to harvest the combs.

Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent four years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?

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