Killer Bees

Killer Bees
Sprite of a swarm of Killer Bees from the game Donkey Kong Country 3.
Homeland	Northern Kremisphere
Powers/Abilities	Flying, Pursuing enemies constantly, except into the water, Immunity against all attacks by enemies
Enemies	Kong Family, Dixie Kong, Kiddy Kong
Game(s)	Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
First Game	Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (for SNES) (1996)
Latest Game	Donkey Kong Country 3 (for GBA) (2005)

The Killer Bees are a swarm of tiny red Buzzes, which aggressively pursue the Kongs in an attempt to harm them. They are invincible enemies appearing exclusively in the game Donkey Kong Country 3.

Overview

Soon after the beginning of the Kremwood Forest stage Riverside Race, these Killer Bees will start to chase Dixie and Kiddy Kong. They serve the purpose to further rush the primates, as the stage is built on speedrunning, even having a timer in the bottom right corner, related to Brash's sidequest. The Killer Bees are indestructible, even when touched by the heroes under the effect of an Invincibility Barrel. But the temporary status by the same barrel still protects the Kongs from the harm of the swarm. Under normal conditions, if a main character comes in contact with the Killer Bees, the primate will be defeated, but they can easily hide from the bees by diving underwater, which the insects will avoid. However, the swarm will usually fly over the water, keeping track of the primates. By the player using good timing, it is also possible to jump over the swarm of enemies in order to avoid them.

At some sections of the same stage, the Killer Bees will stop of pursuing the Kongs and leave the screen immediately in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of Donkey Kong Country 3 or stay at the top of it in the Game Boy Advance version. These locations include the very initial area of the stage, the terrain nearby the two Bonus Barrels of the stage, the platform right above the Star Barrel where there is a red Extra Life Balloon, the platform where the enemy Koin is placed on, and the area next to the Level Flag at the end. As soon as the player leaves these locations in the SNES version of the game, the Killer Bees will reappear at the screen right above the heroes. However, in the GBA version, if the swarm leaves the screen and their buzzing sound can no longer be heard, they will only reappear at certain "trigger" points of the stage. This behavior in the same game version allows the Kongs to move backwards throughout small sections of the stage without being pursued by the Killer Bees.

Trivia

• Alongside Koindozers and Missile Shells, both enemy types also from the same game, Killer Bees are not featured in the Dixie Kong's Photo Album during the regular ending cutscene of the SNES version of the game Donkey Kong Country 3.
• Killer Bees do not reappear as enemies in the game Donkey Kong Land III, despite Buzzes being present in the game.
• Despite having the same immunity against the effect of the Invincibility Barrel in both versions of the game Donkey Kong Country 3, there are slight differences in the behavior of the Killer Bees between the versions. In the SNES version of the game, the Kongs under the invincible status of the barrel can just move past the swarm, phasing through them. However, in the GBA version, under the same conditions, direct contact with the Killer Bees still will produce the typical symbol always seen when the primates are harmed or they hit enemies, albeit no damage for both parties. In fact, multiple contact symbols will appear when touching the swarm under the invincibility state in this game version.