  We consider light propagation through a ballistic amplifying photonic
honeycomb lattice below the lasing threshold. Two sublattices of the system are
formed by the wave-guides with different complex dielectric permittivities,
which results in the non-Hermitian Dirac equation for electromagnetic field. We
reveal that there exists a critical length of the amplifying region for which
the photonic lattice exhibits an amplifier to generator transition. The
transmission and reflection probabilities at the normal angle of incidence are
strongly enhanced at a critical length of the system. We also comment on the
sensitivity of amplification to the direction of incident light and the
thickness of the amplifying region.
