Mellifera

Breeding works through genetics. Each bee holds a pair of alleles for every trait, some dominant and some recessive, and the genes determine a queen's output, her working speed and the places she can be set down. A trait that is not expressed can still pass to the next generation, and the Apiarist Database lists the species discovered, the products and the pairs that lead to each one. Climate acts as a real constraint: tropical bees do poorly in tundra unless the hive stands in a sheltered, warm place.

Breeding spans 58 species arranged across twenty branches. Crossing two species can produce a third through mutation, and the top lines such as Phantasmal Diamond and Ecstatic are reached only through the mutation tree, gated by climate, biome, date and what the parents are fed. Wild hives can be found in the world, and Princess Drones taken from them can be placed in an Apiary to start a colony. New species can be added with a single JSON file.

Mellifera is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only, and it is open source. It has been published for Minecraft 26.2 only, with the latest NeoForge file, 0.4.0, dated 2026-09-13 and carrying the beta channel label. The mod is installed on the client and the server, so both sides need it.