Finding bees?

[Allen]

Is there some latitude they spawn more frequently or something? Do I need to head more south so it becomes warmer? Because I've been searching for days and haven't found a single hive.

Doesn't help that forests are extremely annoying to explore both due to heavily limited visibility and being home to wolves and bears.

[Thorfinn]

Tweak your sound settings while you are looking. Music all the way off, environmental off, effects cranked, etc. Easier with headphones. They are unmistakable within 15 yards or so, but depending, you can hear them up to 40 away. The kicker is if you sprint everywhere like I do, you might run right past it before the sound file starts up. Safest solution is two passes -- first at full speed to find all the nasties, then a second after you've led them away. I am not that patient usually, so I just do the head on a swivel thing.

Alternatively, the mod Buzzwords is now configurable. That makes it an excellent option for learning how to hear bees. Or you can just use that and play your regular style, depending on what kind of game experience you want. 

[EDIT]

I used to explore only forests where I saw pigs,  but after I learned what to listen for, they are much more widespread than just that. By "much more", I mean while playing with map, usually at least 3-4 marked on the first day on a default start.

[/EDIT]

Edited November 17, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Rhyagelle]

I've noticed they like maples a lot. Look for large maple forests on the map, there should be many of them in there. As for finding them, just turn your music down some and keep an ear out. They are very loud, provided you don't have music levels blasted. 

[Owktree]

The secret rule is that right after you get a populated skep established to build your apiary you will hear and discover them constantly and everywhere.

The neat ones have been ones I've found like four blocks up in an isolated birch tree in the middle of a meadow area.

[Allen]

Found a forest with like 50% maple trees so wandering there with music set to 0, weather sounds to 10%, and ambient and master volumes at 100%. Just walking all around the woods to check out every corner I can.

No bees so far. But hey, I did find 2 ingots worth of copper nuggets, so can't complain I suppose. 

But at this point, I might end up getting my first candle from all this bony soil I'm picking up before I find a single bee.

[Thorfinn]

Huh. How much ground are you covering? Most of the time I'm finding them maybe 500-1.5k apart, if I'm in appropriate climate. But it's kind of like ore. Even Ultra-High isn't guaranteed or anything. You can get a long string of fails before you get a hit. Be sure to check out the Wiki. Bees seem to be really scarce towards the bottom of the ranges, IME. No idea if that's real or just perception. 

If it were me, I'd shut the weather sound completely off. The wind through the leaves and rain both overwhelm the sound of bees until you are right on top of them. Maybe you can pick out the sound of bees at range, maybe not. I mix music as a hobby, so I'm pretty good at that kind of thing, and I have difficulty with that.

A few starts ago, I had a tough time figuring out exactly where the hive was because it turned out there were 2 about 20 apart, and another about 50 away from that. Every time I thought I was getting far enough away that it should be getting quieter, it would stay about the same or maybe get a bit louder.

But I understand your frustration. The first dozen or so games I played, I never did find any bees.

Try out Spear and Fang's Buzzwords before the frustration level gets too high. He's added a radius setting to it. No idea how far you can set it, but I'm not sure I'd do much more than 32, which seems to be roughly the game's sound setting, anyway. Never have I heard it at more than 40 away.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Allen]

Mostly a half a day to a day's walk/sprint away from spawn. Figured I'd use it to find nearby copper/etc to enter the metal age proper while I'm at it, so I was searching nearby forests one at a time. I did check the temperature/rain every now and then to make sure I'm not looking in the wrong place entirely, but otherwise, it was go to the forest, walk around all over until I'm fairly certain I've searched everywhere, move the the next forest, rinse and repeat.

Though, now that I've found enough metal for an anvil, I'm considering moving further south by maybe a day or two to search, after some base renovations for proper storage and such. 

I might try the mod if I get too frustrated. Haven't been using any mods so far but I've only heard good things so.

edit:

I think I found my problem. Made a creative world and spawned in a beehive so I know what it sounds like. It took like 8 blocks for the sound to lower to a point where I could barely hear it and would probably just write it off as background noise if I heard it in my survival world amidst all the other sounds like water/footsteps/etc. Guess I'm getting that mod to find my bees.

Edited November 19, 2023 by Allen