Productive Bees
by LobsterJonn
Productive Bees is a Forge and NeoForge technology mod that adds bees producing resources and advanced beehives for automated setups.
What it does
Most bees in the overworld are solitary and do not live in hives; they need nests, produce no resources, and are mostly used for breeding. Each bee has its own flower requirements, which can be read in the recipe viewer when the bee is right-clicked or the U key is pressed on it. Most production bees come from breeding two other bees, with breeding recipes listed in the recipe viewer and the Big Book of Bees. Some bees only spawn from the nests of other bees.
The mod adds bees for most vanilla resources and for modded materials such as copper, lead and silver, plus mod-specific resources from several other mods. With the relevant mods installed, more than 200 bees are available. Up to 32 variants of advanced beehive are added, most made from wood introduced by other mods. Server owners can add bees, disable existing ones, and change production resources and rates.
Productive Bees requires Forge or NeoForge, runs on client and server, and is not open source; it is released under All rights reserved. Files cover game versions 1.15.2 – 1.21.1, with 1.21.1 builds for NeoForge and 1.20.1 builds for Forge as the latest files.
Key features
Resource-producing bees
Bees for vanilla, common metal and modded resources, each producing its item inside an automated hive.
Advanced beehives
Up to 32 hive variants, many built from wood added by other mods, to house the bees and run production.
Flower requirements in the recipe viewer
Each bee's flower needs can be read in the recipe viewer by right-clicking the bee or pressing U on it.
Configurable bees and rates
Bees can be added, disabled, or given different production resources and rates through the config.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
1.21.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.20.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.19.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.18.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.17.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.16.x4 of 4 versions with builds
1.15.x1 of 1 version with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Required by 3 mods
Use cases
Automated resource supply
Hives keep bees working, so resources are produced without manual harvesting once breeding is set up.
Modpack integration
Bees for mod-specific materials from several technology and magic mods let a modpack tie those resources into one bee system.
Who it’s for: Players who want resources from bee production in automated setups, and server owners who want to tune which bees and rates are available.
How it compares
Resourceful Bees is also a Forge and NeoForge bee mod, open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, with files for 1.16.5 – 26.3. Resource Bees is published for Fabric and NeoForge on 1.21.1 only, under the MIT License, which is not open source. Productive Bees is not open source and covers 1.15.2 – 1.21.1.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Productive Bees | Forge and NeoForge | 1.15.2 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-01-13 |
| Resourceful Bees | Forge and NeoForge | 1.16.5 – 26.3 | Client and server | 2026-09-27 |
| Resource Bees | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-09-28 |
Questions
Does Productive Bees need Forge or NeoForge?
Do server owners need to install Productive Bees?
Why do bees not enter a hive?
In the catalog
Productive Bees is one of 8,499 Technology mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,122 Technology mods for Forge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from LobsterJonn
Similar mods
What the author says
Productive Bees builds on the content added by Minecraft 1.15 and adds additional bees and advanced beehives allowing you to put your bees to work creating resources in a fully automated setup. Productive bees are just as derpy as their vanilla cousins, but makes up for it in usefulness and beeuty. This mod adds bees…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/productivebees
- Owner
- LobsterJonn
- Published
- 2023-03-17
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-01-13
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15