 Quelbee Hive: (A) / (B) / (C) / (D) / (E)  |
Quelbees are no larger than the normal bumblebee, nor are their hives any more eleborate, but they are more intelligent and their stingers far more potent. The rare and tasty Quelbee honeycomb is highly sought after, but is extremely difficult and dangerous to obtain--they would sooner saw their wings off than leter anyone get at their honey. With bee-like solidarity, these insects are easily able to form a resistance against intruders, taking the necessary measures to band together to block helfty elvish swords even before the first impact.
The queen quelbee is the common term for the queen of a hive of quelbess. There is no noted significant difference between a queen quelbee and a normal queen bee, apart from the normal differences between quelbees and normal bees. (A few cryptozoologists believe the queen quelbee might actually be a sentient creature, though there is no documented evidence to support this claim.)
With very delicate olfactory senses, one of the most efficient methods to allocate the necessary time to crack a quelbee hive, snatch a honeycomb and run, is to invade their domain with the stench of hungus lard. But be warned, most quelbee kingdoms are not fooled more than once, as these bees are quick enough to devise a method for coping with the intense odor of the lard--usually they plug their noses with their antennae and vengefully plant their stingers into every exposed portion of the infiltrator. Thus it is recommended to search the hive for breakage points or observe the reaction of the insects when they inhale the scent of hungus lard at a distance, to make sure that they have not already learned from a past experience.
During the Great Monster Uprising of the Second Age of Magic, quelbees were reported in the following regions: Frigid River Valley, Aragain Falls, The Casino in Port Foozle, Fields of Frotzen, Forest of Youth, Gurth Woodland Trial, Kovalli Desert, Mithicus Mountains, Egreth Castle, Bozbarland, The Old Lingolf House, The Southern Wastes, and the G.U.E. Tech Training Grounds in the Ethereal Plane of Atrii.
TRIVIA:
Quelbee honey is one of the prime components needed to make Frobozzian Magic Cocoa of Concentration.
Quelbees unaccountably love the voice of Stung beyond all others, and would produce extra honey when he was in the area. This may have accounted for his nickname.
It was rumored, as part of the quest to enter the Lost Mail Room of Frobwit, that it was necessary to use magic honey to placate a queen quelbee who had in her possession the map to Morning Star's palace.