Minecraft wiki entry for Bee, associated text: Afterward, the bee flies back into its hive/nest and makes honey. It takes about 2 minutes for the bee to do this. That increases the amount of honey in a hive/nest by 1. When the amount reaches 5, honey can be seen dripping from the bottom and front of the hive/nest. A hive/nest must have 5 honey inside before a player can collect honeycombs or honey bottles.