Minecraft wiki entry for Honey_farming, associated text: The other is to maintain deniability by using redstone: Hives can be harvested by using a dispenser (with a glass bottle or shears), and then the bees do not attack anyone. This works because the whenever a block gets activated by redstone, such as a Dispenser or TNT, the game cannot determine who activated said block - it only sees that the targeted block was activated via redstone. As such, the game is unable to assign a target for the bees to attack. This mechanic can also extend to other aspects of the game, such as determining who attacks a Villager via exploding TNT or the ability to block TNT with a Shield. The #Automatic harvesting section below discusses designs for using redstone.