The Queen Bee is a pre-Hardmode boss that spawns when a larva-like object is broken in a Hive Biome or when a player activates the Abeemination item in the jungle.

The Larva which summons the Queen Bee
There is a possibility that a player can find more than one Larva Sac inside the Hive. To avoid accidentally spawning another one, it is advised that they first explore the area, and in case another one is found, it is suggested to surround it with blocks so it doesn't break with a stray bullet or area of effect spell.
Once the Queen Bee has been defeated, the Witch Doctor will move in if there is a suitable house for him. His house must be within the jungle for him to sell some of his items.
Attack Pattern[]
The Queen Bee has three forms of attack which it alternates between during the battle. One of the more dangerous attacks performed by the Queen Bee is a horizontal charge across the screen that is repeated several times. This attack is very similar to the charge performed by the Eye of Cthulhu. Each charge is aimed at the player's current position.
After the charges the Queen Bee will begin to hover above the player for a short time. During this time, she will spawn Bees that attack the player, which are identical to those spawned when hive blocks are broken. After a short time the Queen Bee will fly off and use her other attacks.
Between using these attacks, the Bees fly around the player, shooting rapid-fire stingers in a similar fashion to a hornet. After she has fired over ten shots she switches to another one of her attacks.
This cycle will repeat until the Queen is slain.
Expert Mode[]
Queen Bee remains mostly unchanged in Expert Mode, except that now she will speed-up her attack pattern as she is damaged and the increase in hitpoints to 4760. During the Expert and Master mode, contact damage will apply Poisoned as well. As of 1.4 version, the Queen Bee will also enrage when fought outside of the Jungle Biome, significantly speeding up her attacks and firing speed for the stingers.
Master Mode[]
The Master Mode behavior is similar to her Expert variant, but now she sports a whopping 6069 hitpoints. Due to the new enraging mechanic, fighting an enraged Queen Bee outside of the Jungle can be almost impossible, especially at the early stages of the game, but is a doable deed once in Hardmode.
Tips[]
- The Queen Bee is most vulnerable after her charges when she spawns bees. During this time she will hover above the player and with a ranged weapon that penetrates through enemies it is possible to deal a great amount of damage to the Queen while killing all of the spawns without having to move or aim.
- The charge attack is easy to predict and simple to dodge. The charge starts at one side of the player's screen and travels all the way to the opposite side. If the area around the hive is well lit it is a simple matter to see the charges coming. Even with limited vision it is a simple matter to avoid these charges if the player has access to a grapple of any variety and/or some form of jump enhancement by waiting near the bottom of the hive on the opposite side to the queen then jumping/grappling out of her way when she charges and landing on the other side of the hive to dodge the next charge.
- An easily accessible weapon for fighting the Queen Bee is one of the gem staves (due to their piercing attacks) such as the Sapphire Staff, and depending on the player's world spawn or access to an Extractinator, the player could get the best or second best available. The Ruby or the Diamond Staff are recommended for fighting the Queen due to their higher damage output over the other staves. On another note, if a player gets lucky, he/she could find a Water Bolt in one of the first few shelves in the Dungeon, which is another great weapon to fight the Queen. It has a bit lower damage than some of the staves, but it makes up for it with its wall bouncing capabilities, each shot being able to hit the Queen and her minions multiple times. It is also one of the best ways to kill the Queen Bee as all a player would have to do is obtain mana potions and use honey as a life regeneration buff which takes little effort, and is incredibly fast.
- Another method is simply to build three rows of wooden platforms (or any type of platforms) and then when Queen Bee charges, simply drop down or jump up, evading her attack completely.
- If you are re-fighting the Queen Bee use the Bee Gun or The Bees Knees for a swift kill as you need less aiming skill to make a hit. (The Bee Keeper isn't as effective as the Queen Bee is fast and can fly)
- If you are a magic oriented player, a good strategy is to save a bit of mana for when the Queen Bee releases her bee minions and attack them to get all the mana stars that drop. The amount of mana stars the bee minions will drop can help fill up the mana bar during the battle.
Bugs[]
Queen Bee stuck in a wall.
- The Queen Bee may accidentally despawn during battle.
- If you stay in one place for a while, the Queen Bee will also stay in one place and stop attacking. (Does not happen every time but will guarantee a non-moving target when the Queen Bee is spawning bees or shooting stingers.)
- Occasionally when spawning in a new world, a larva will generate in a hive wall, causing a Queen Bee to spawn.
- When breaking a larva with a Picksaw, it will spawn two bosses. One of them will spawn a few seconds after the first has spawned. (Unconfirmed, 3Ds Version only)
- Sometimes upon a player's death the Queen Bee will act as though you were still fighting it and chase you all the way to the spawnpoint. (Helpful on softcore as you can farm deaths)
Update Info[]
- New sprite.
- Now enrages when fought outside of the Jungle.
- Killing Queen Bee earns the achievement "Sting Operation".
- Now drops "Bee's Knees".
- Now drops Honeyed Goggles.
- Now drops Bee Wax.
- Now drops Queen Bee Mask.
- Added to the game.