I created a new world and almost completely explored its jungle/underground jungle biome. So far I have not found a single bee hive. I'm playing in a medium-sized world. What strategies can I use to locate the beehives?
21 Answer
It is actually not infrequent that you might have passed a bee hive a few tiles buried in mud, the amount of light you produced might not be strong enough to see those hives. Also do not under estimate the size of the jungle, the underground may be wider than the surface and it can go very close to the underworld.
Light
To find anything, light is most important, you can't find it if you can't even see it. A very effective method to quickly light up the area is to use Flare Gun you can find it in the Gold chests lying around the jungle underground. Additional ammunition can be bought from the Merchant once you obtain a Flare Gun(You might need have it in your inventory for the ammunition to be in the shop).
One advantage of flares is that it can be shot onto ceilings and through small gaps in the wall. Lighting areas normally hard to reach.
If Flare Gun is unavailable you may consider using Flaming Arrows. Unlike flares, flaming arrow may be wasted once it impacts into a monster or solid block but when shot, it drops light producing embers along it's flight path that can pass through blocks and light slightly deeper than your torches can reach. You can use Molten Fury with Wooden Arrows to reduce cost of making Flaming Arrows.
To further boost vision you can use Night Owl Potion. It simply enhances the effect of any light produced, allowing you to see more. Its ingredient Daybloom and Blinkroot are found on surface grass and underground dirt respectively, an easy potion to make.
Tips
Pay attention to Honey Blocks when exploring, sometimes you might find some around in more obvious places especially on water surface. That will hint of a hive being nearby.
And as with most problems, Dynamite is always a solution. If you do not mind destroying parts of the jungle to find the hive, dropping a few dynamites will open up more areas of the jungle for exploring also occasionally revealing buried hives. Just be careful when using dynamite as it may accidentally destroy the lava and spawn the Queen Bee.
