[[quoteright:250:[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DKC2_hornet_hole_8228.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250: The difficulty here can really [[{{Pun}} sting]] at times.]]

A level seen in video games that takes place almost exclusively in a beehive (or [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Hornet Hole]]). Due to the nature of this level, it is in the realm almost exclusively of {{Platform Game}}s. It has sticky honey or beeswax that will get stuck on characters and will often have a [[TheMaze mazelike]] level design. It goes without saying that EverythingsWorseWithBees. There will be a Queen or [[AnimalGenderBender King]] bee that needs to be fought. Of course, this videogame setting isn't limited to bees. Wasps, hornets and other suitably annoying flying, stinging insects can have their homes invaded by intrepid heroes as well. Since this level is full of enemy types that usually can't be defeated by traditional means, it can easily become ThatOneLevel.

Related tropes that can be seen in this type of level are TheSwarm, HiveMind, SynchronizedSwarming, BeeBeeGun and GoshHornet.

* Creator/{{Rare}} was a fan of bringing these levels to players:
** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry 2'' has [[TropeNamer Hornet Hole]], Rambi Rumble, Parrot-Chute Panic, and a boss level, King Zing Sting.
** ''''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' has this in a very limited fashion in the Click Clock Wood. There's also the highest parts of Cloud Cuckooland's mountain in ''Banjo-Tooie''.
** ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' featured you going into a hornet's hangout to rescue a beehive. Here the bees are pretty OK. Hornets aren't.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' has Honeyhive Galaxy and the Honeyclimb Galaxy. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' features the Honeybloom and Honeyhop galaxies. Inverted, however, in that the bees are friendly, and the sticky honey can be used to scale walls.
* Stage 4 of the Tree Zone in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins''.
* The obscure game ''''VideoGame/{{Zapper}}'' has one called Crazy Apiary. It also doubled as an UnexpectedShmupLevel.
* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure "[=WG7=] Castle Greyhawk", level "Queen of the Honeybee Hive": The [=PCs=] must fight a group of opponents with bee-themed names.
* The Nui-Rama hive in the ''[[Franchise/{{BIONICLE}} Mata Nui Online Game]]''.
* The action-RPG ''[[Franchise/{{Thunderscape}} Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall]]'' has a hive of giant bee/wasp-like creatures (called Panorpids) as one of its 'dungeons'.
* The Hive in ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl''. Hope you like fighting killer bees.
* The Apiary in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}''.
* The Mantid Hive in ''{{VideoGame/Turok}} 2: Seeds of Evil''.
* A few rooms in ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'', complete with queen bee.
* ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure 2'' has the island of the Mosquibees which includes a large hive although [[spoiler:you spend more time fighting the invading Francos]].
* The Castelia Gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is, understandably for a Bug gym, themed around a beehive, complete with sticky honey walls to break through.
* The [[JungleJapes Biosphere]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM ''has a single room that is a giant hive of Ki-Hunters, aggressive insectoid enemies driven only more aggressive by a roar heard nearby. You fight a bunch of them and then the King (who just sits in his hive) as a minor boss fight.
* The derelict Collector Ship in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' can be considered this due to their general layout and hive-like design, including millions of victims in pods upon the walls.
* Honey Bee Hollow in ''Frogger 3D''.
* The Macintosh computer game ''VideoGame/{{Bugdom}}'' has a level and a boss fight that both take place in a beehive. The type of enemies include the flying bees that appeared in the earlier two levels that try to sting you, muscular worker drone bees that fire their stingers at you, and bee larvae with bee heads and stingers sticking out of them, the normal bees and muscular drones die once they lose their stingers. The first level to take place in the beehive also has honey which if you land in it is a one hit kill as you sink in it and lose a life (unless you have the swim in water-type that would normally kill you cheat on), as for the boss fight you do battle against a queen bee who shoots honey and summons the bee larvae with the heads sticking out, to damage her you need to use your rolling attack move on her.
* ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' has this in Desert Ruins Zone 2.
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VIII'' has a rare non-platformer example in the Wasp Nest in the Alvar region, which is the nest of the Alvarian giant wasps. The main special thing is that it is set up so that to navigate inside the nest requires Jump magic (your ordinary jumps are not high enough), though fortunately it has several entrances, allowing parties with Fly magic/special abilities (which only works outdoors) to reach most parts of it by taking detours on the outside.
* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' [[VideoGameRemake HD]]: Sometimes a Jungle level will have a beehive area, containing some honey patches that cause items to stick, a number of [[http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Killer_Bee giant bees]], and a [[http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Queen_Bee queen bee]]. The queen drops royal jelly when killed, which is the second most potent source of healing in the game.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, an underground hive for the Old God-worshipping Qiraji, and Heart of Fear, a palace built out of amber occupied by the mantid.