Killer bee
a killer bee 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5 |
| Attacks |
Sting 1d3 poison |
| Base level | 1 |
| Base experience | 31 |
| Speed | 18 |
| Base AC | -1 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1 |
| Nutritional value | 5 |
| Size | Tiny |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
Poison (30%) |
|
A killer bee: | |
| Reference | monst.c#line110 |
A killer bee, a, is a monster that is usually generated in large groups. They tend to be faster than you, so they can get more than one sting in each turn. Sometimes their sting is poisoned, which can instakill you if you are not resistant. Their corpses are poisonous but have a high chance (30%) of granting poison resistance.
A beehive is a special room that contains lots of killer bees, a queen bee, and lumps of royal jelly.
Strategy
Killer bees are fast but weak. A medium-level character with a good chance to hit can often finish them off in one hit. This works best if you fight them in corridors where only one can sting you at a time. For low-level, slow, burdened, or non-poison-resistant characters, discretion is the better part of valor. High magic cancellation will offer considerable protection against the poisonous sting. Elbereth can offer some breathing room. Head to a corridor or doorway so you only need to fight one at a time. An effective and pacifist alternative is to lead the bees to a falling rock trap, which will dispose of them quickly. If you can't get away easily or are surrounded, you will need to look in your inventory for a suitable wand or escape item.
Although killer bee corpses are poisonous, they offer a high chance (30%) of granting poison resistance, which you might like to take advantage of, especially if you have a temporary source of poison resistance like an amulet versus poison or a ring of poison resistance or are nullifying the strength penalty through the use of a ring of sustain ability, unicorn horn, or tinning kit. You will never suffer instadeath from eating their corpses, although the poison damage itself may kill you if you are low on HP.
Encyclopedia entry
This giant variety of its useful normal cousin normally
appears in small groups, looking for raw material to produce
the royal jelly needed to feed their queen. On rare
occasions, one may stumble upon a bee-hive, in which the
queen bee is being well provided for, and guarded against
intruders.
