Queen Bee

Queen Bee is the owner of Queen Bee Cider and Quality Brand Honey. She is also the mother of Steven and Nevets.

History
Queen Bee used to supply the palace guards with Queen Bee Cider, to help them regain strength and stamina.

At some point after the Shadow Lord's invasion of Deltora, she and her sons, Steven and Nevets, became allies of the Resistance. They supplied the Resistance with Quality Brand Honey, which contains special healing properties.

Queen Bee also supplied her Queen Bee Cider to the Rithmere Games, though it is unknown if she did this before or after the Shadow Lord's takeover of Deltora.

The Shifting Sands
Lief, Barda, and Jasmine stumbled upon her orchard and help themselves to nine of her apples. Queen Bee tracked them down and demanded they give them back, but the companions had eaten all but three. Enraged, Queen Bee unleashed her swarm of bees to kill them, but Jasmine dropped her money bag. Queen Bee accepted the bag as payment, despite the contents being worth much more than what they ate. She then inquired as to where the companions came from, but upon seeing the smoking ruins of the City of the Rats, told them to go and that she never saw them. Though she wishes them good fortune for their work against the shadow lord.

Later, in the Shifting Sands, Lief saw Queen Bee in a dream, and was reminded of how she uses smoke to subdue her bees.

The Maze of the Beast
When trying to decipher the password to get into the Resistance's western stronghold, Lief realised that the Quality Brand Honey Dain had been carrying belonged to Queen Bee, which helped him solve the puzzle. When he asked the Resistance why they would hide the name of their honey, they said it was to protect the identity of Queen Bee and her sons.

Return to Del
When Doom sent word to the Resistance to meet at Withick Mire, Queen Bee was one of the members informed. While she did not attend herself, she did use her bees to further pass along the message to Manus.

The Sister of the South
Queen Bee attended the wedding of Lief and Jasmine.

Physical appearance
Queen Bee is an short, plump, round elderly woman. She has thin brown hair which she wears in a tiny topknot on her head. Her face is creased and crinkled.

Personality
Queen Bee is fiercely protective of her apples and honey. Stealing so much as to bring her quota down by one stalk causes her to fly into a rage, and she is not above letting her bees kill those who do not return what they took. Her initially vindictive attitude, may have been due to having to having to hide her role in the resistance from the Shadowlord. It may also be due to fear of the tyrant punishing her for not meeting her quota.

Nevertheless, she is willing to help the Resistance despite the risks to herself and her sons. She latter aids Lief, Barda and Jasmine by spreading the word to members of the resistance.

Abilities
Queen Bee is the only producer of Queen Bee Cider and Quality Brand Honey. The cider acts as a strength enhancing drink, and the honey has healing properties. She can also give commands to her bees, ranging from attacking intruders to carrying messages. She does not have complete control, as she told the companions she still needs to use smoke to take honey from their hives.

It is possible that this control over bees might stem from her Plains blood.

Deltora Quest 1

 * The Shifting Sands
 * Return to Del

Deltora Quest 3

 * The Sister of the South

Trivia

 * Queen Bee was described as having brown hair in the book, though Marc McBride's illustration of the character depicted her with white hair.
 * The way Queen Bee dresses and the way she manipulates and stores her bees within her cloak is similar to the Kamizuru Clan members from the popular anime, Naruto.