Key Takeaway
To defeat the Queen Bee in Terraria, players must first head to the Jungle Biome. They can summon the Queen Bee manually by using the Abeemination item, or locate mini-biome Bee Hives and destroy the Queen Bee Larvae lurking within.
The Queen Bee fight is fast-paced, so players must learn her three main attack patterns and prepare an adequate battle arena with Platforms and Ropes to dodge efficiently.
The Queen Bee in Terraria is an optional boss that’s a right of passage for all players. It drops perfect weapons for defeating the Wall of Flesh and the best pre-Hardmode mount. It’s time to summon and defeat this intimidating insect!
Table Of Contents
Where to Find the Queen Bee in Terraria
The Queen Bee hides in the heart of the Jungle Biome, either near the Surface or in the Underground Jungle. There are two main ways of summoning her:
- Locate beehive mini-biomes, inside which there may be at least one Larvae. Destroying the Larvae sack will immediately summon the Queen Bee.
- Use the Abeemination boss-summoner item inside the Jungle. You can create this from the Inventory crafting menu using five Honey Blocks, 5 Hives, one Stinger, and one Bottled Honey.
Depending on your world size, you can naturally farm the Queen Bee multiple times. There are usually 6 – 8 Bee Hives per small or medium world and anywhere between 11 – 16 Bee Hives in large worlds.
The Best Armor, Weapons & Accessories for Fighting the Bee Queen
The beauty of Terraria is the sheer diversity in the available weapons, armor, and accessories. All these items offer pathways into four main builds: Melee, Magic, Ranged, and Summoner.
However, with all these options, some combat builds and weapons work better against the Queen Bee than others. Since this is a pre-Hardmode boss, the available arsenal for potential weaponry is slightly decreased. In any case, here are the best items, weapons, and accessories you can equip to fight your way through the swarm and claim the Queen Bee!
Note| Class | Weapon(s) | Armor | Accessories | Potions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melee | • Blade of Grass • Night's Edge • The Amazon Yoyo • Blue Moon or The Meatball flails | • Full set of Gold or Platinum Armor • Molten Armor | • A vertical mobility item like Cloud in a Bottle or Shiny Red Balloon • Feral Claws for autoswinging weapons • The Bezoar to remove poisons | • Thorns Potions to deal damage to the bees passively • Lifeforce, Ironskins, and Endurance Potions |
| Magic | • Ruby or Diamond Staff • Demon Scythe • Gray Zapinator • Space Gun | • The Wizard set | • A vertical mobility item like Cloud in a Bottle or Shiny Red Balloon • The Bezoar to remove poisons | • Thorns Potions to deal damage to the bees passively • Lifeforce, Ironskins, and Endurance Potions • Magic Power Potions and Mana Regeneration Potions |
| Ranged | • Demon Bow or Tendon Bow or Molten Fury • Pair these with Jester's Arrows or Unholy Arrows • Minishark with Silver Bullets | • Fossil Armor • Necro Armor | • A vertical mobility item like Cloud in a Bottle or Shiny Red Balloon • The Bezoar to remove poisons | • Thorns Potions to deal damage to the bees passively • Lifeforce, Ironskins, and Endurance Potions • Ammo Reservation Potions and Archery Potions |
| Summoner | • Flinx Staff • Vampire Frog Staff • Leather Whip or Snapthorn | • Obsidian Armor • Flinx Fur Coat | • A vertical mobility item like Cloud in a Bottle or Shiny Red Balloon • Feral Claws for autoswinging the whip • The Bezoar to remove poisons | • Thorns Potions to deal damage to the bees passively • Lifeforce, Ironskins, and Endurance Potions • Summoning Potions |
As well as all these Potions, you should also bring the highest-tier Healing Potions available in your current stage in the game. Make sure you consume these wisely, as they trigger the temporary Potion Sickness debuff for 60 seconds, making you vulnerable. We recommend that you have at least 300 Health before taking on the Queen Bee. Try to locate more Life Crystals if your HP is too low.
Preparing the Battle Arena
Since Bee Hives are quite a compact space, you can build a small but effective battle arena inside. Create several layers of platforms so you can easily drop between them and dodge attacks. As a general rule of thumb, there should be a five-block gap between each platform.
If the fight gets a little ropey, you should have the Nurse NPC on standby to heal you. You can use a Magic Mirror or Cell Phone to teleport to your location and heal you. The Queen Bee will follow as she does not get out of range or despawn.
You should also place Campfires and a Star in a Bottle nearby if you can. These two items will passively regenerate your Health and Mana, respectively. Having a Garden Gnome in your Inventory will also reduce any damage taken and increase the damage you deal to the Queen Bee, which can be a game changer.
You’ll also notice that the Bee Hive has a pool of Honey nearby. Dropping into this golden delight will boost your passive Health regeneration, which should last for the entire fight.
Combat Strategies for Facing the Insect Monarch
Since the Queen Bee is a pre-Hardmode boss, it’s fairly simple to fight once you understand how it moves. She has three distinct attack patterns:
- Charges directly at your current location three times
Your vertical mobility item comes in handy when the Queen Bee uses its charge attack. Jump to safety using either Rope, Vines, or Platforms to get out of harm’s way. You can also use a Grappling Hook for faster movement.
- Hovers directly above you and spawns Bee minions
When the Bee minions are summoned, you’ll need a weapon that can pierce through multiple targets and cleave them out of the way. Direct your attacks toward the Queen Bee’s rear to halt the minions right as they spawn. The Queen Bee is most vulnerable at this stage, so you’ll need to throw your entire arsenal at it to deal the most damage.
- Flies around like a normal Hornet mob, shooting poisoned stingers
During the poisoned stinger phase, the best thing to do is duck and weave, going left and right. Hide behind solid blocks wherever possible to block the stingers. Equip Bezoar whenever you get poisoned, as it can deal a lot of damage without you realizing it. The poison debuff also significantly slows down passive Health regeneration, so be on your guard.
Rewards for Killing the Queen Bee in Terraria
The Queen Bee in Terraria is definitely a boss that should be on your grind list for the early stages of the game. It drops some substantial loot, including the Honeyed Goggles, which are a great first mount.
Here is a complete list of all the loot the Queen Bee drops in Terraria, including their drop rates.
| Item Name | Item Description | Drop Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Bee Gun | A pre-Hardmode magic weapon that shoots out piercing bee projectiles | 33% |
| Bee Keeper | A pre-Hardmode bow that have a 90% chance to inflict the Confused debuff and summons 1 - 3 freindly bee projectiles | 33% |
| The Bee's Knees | A pre-Hardmode bow that sometimes fires out honing Bee Arrows projectiles | 33% |
| Hive Wand | Places Hives as blocks | 33% |
| Bee Hat | Vanity item | 11% |
| Bee Shirt | Vanity item | 11% |
| Bee Pants | Vanity item | 11% |
| Honey Comb | Pre-Hardmode Accessory that spawns 1 - 3 bee projectiles passively to attack nearby enemies | 33% |
| Nectar | Pet-summoning item that spawns a Baby Hornet as a pet | 6.7% |
| Honeyed Goggles | Mount-summoning item that spawns a rideable Bee Mount which can fly for ten seconds before gliding | 5% |
| Beenade | Acts like a regular Grenade when thrown, but released 15 - 25 bee projectiles to attack the enemy | 75% |
| Bee Wax | Crafting material | 100% (Drops in stacks of 16 - 26) |
| Bottled Honey | Healing Potion, restores 80 Health | 100% (Drops in stacks of 5 - 15) |
| Queen Bee Mask | Boss Mask | 14.29% |
| Queen Bee Trophy | Boss Trophy | 10% |
Defeating the Queen Bee is one small stepping stone on your long Terraria journey. To prepare yourself for future, tougher battles, you should equip yourself with the best pre-Hardmode Accessories you can find, as well as the best Armor sets.
