How to stop bees from attacking in Minecraft

Minecraft's bee mobs can be pretty helpful because they pollinate plant life and produce honey in their hives and nests. However, players typically need to handle and move bees to a better location. This runs the risk of upsetting the bees and causing them to attack with their poisonous stingers. So, how can you prevent this from happening?

Whenever you break a bee nest or hive or try to collect honey/honeycombs from one, unless certain precautions are taken, the creatures will exit their nest and attack until they are killed or haven't stung a target in 25 seconds. This obviously isn't ideal since the bees need to be alive to produce honey and pollinate crops. Fortunately for players, there's a pretty simple way to keep them docile.

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Preventing bees from attacking while interacting with their homes in Minecraft

Smoke from fires can pacify Minecraft bee mobs in their nests (Image via Mojang)

When it comes to keeping bees from attacking you in Minecraft, there are a few considerations to be made. The simplest tactic is to use a campfire and place it underneath the hive/nest, which will pacify any bees inside and allow you to break or interact with the hive/nest without upsetting its inhabitants. However, any bees outside of the nest will attack if they are nearby when you break/interact with it.

As an added tactic, it's possible to enchant a tool with Silk Touch in Minecraft to break a bee nest/hive without causing the bees inside to emerge and attack. In Java Edition, you can safely break a nest or hive with a Silk Touch tool, and the outside bees won't mind. However, they will attack if they're nearby, and you do so in Bedrock Edition, which is something to keep in mind before finding a nest/hive.

If you're worried about errant bees causing problems while you fidget with their homes in Minecraft, it's also possible to corral them back into their bee/nest by using the forces of nature. At night or during the rain, bees will return to their nest/hive, where you can pacify all of them at once by using a campfire or other fire source or using a Silk Touch tool to collect the hive with the bees inside.

Silk Touch can be used to collect both bees and their nests at once in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

When broken by a Silk Touch tool, a bee hive/nest and all of the bees inside of it are collected. Even when the hive or nest is placed in the environment again, the bees won't attack. This is something to keep in mind in the event you don't have a campfire or something similar like netherrack blocks (which can be lit on fire eternally), as the smoke from the fires is the only other real way to pacify bees.

If you've already upset a swarm of bees, your best option may be to run away as quickly as you can. After 25 seconds, if a bee hasn't stung an enemy, it will disengage. It can also be helpful to use a shield, as these will block bee stings, though positioning can be tough when dealing with multiple bees. If you do get stung, you'll be poisoned, and the bee will also die from losing its stinger.

The best tactic when you're heading out to get bee nests/hives or collect honey in Minecraft is to simply use a campfire. They're easy to craft, and when they're placed under a hive or nest, bees will be no threat to you. Otherwise, it isn't a bad idea to wait until nightfall and then take the entire hive or nest with a Silk Touch tool if you're hoping to move it for a future bee farm.