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Metal Gear Solid 5 - Where Do The Bees Sleep: Honey Bee prisoner location, Hamid prisoner

How to infiltrate the fort, find the prisoner and get your hands on the Honey Bee weapon in Metal Gear Solid 5's Where Do The Bees Sleep?

Welcome to Metal Gear Solid 5 - Where Do The Bees Sleep, the sixth main story mission of the game, following on from Over The Fence.

Where Do The Bees Sleep Mission checklist:

  • Secured the Honey Bee
  • Eliminated the Skulls
  • Secured the Honey Bee with its ammunition intact
  • Extracted the prisoner who cannot speak
  • Extracted 2 snipers at the Mountain Relay Base
  • Eliminated the gunship

When you're ready to resume your operation, bring up your mission list and select 6-Where do the Bees Sleep? There's only one possible Landing Zone for this mission, so highlight it, set your Drop Time to 0600 and begin your descent to earth.

This time around, you're charged with locating the Honey Bee - a secret US military weapon that was placed in the hands of the region's Hamid fighters. Unfortunately, the Soviets are also hunting for the weapon, and it's imperative that it doesn't fall into their hands.

Intel suggests that the Honey Bee is hidden somewhere inside the fort at Da Smasei Laman - although its exact location is unknown. As Ocelot notes, you've received word that a Hamid fighter is still in the area - so it might be worth finding him to learn more.

Cover image for YouTube video6 Metal Gear Solid 5 Fan Theories So Crazy They Might Be True
6 Metal Gear Solid 5 Fan Theories So Crazy They Might Be True

Where Do The Bees Sleep: Make your way to the fort

Once you land, mount your horse and begin riding toward the yellow objective marker. Unfortunately, the sheer rocks between you and the fort are impassable so you'll have to go the long way round. Begin travelling along the main road, heading south-east, and follow it as it winds around toward your destination.

As you approach the Soviet outpost a little further on, you'll spot a path leading off up the hill to the right. If you don't want to capture the guard post, you can use this path to circumvent the enemy encampment, rejoining the main road a little way on.

Some time later, you'll turn a corner and spy a large Soviet relay base running alongside the ravine below. Ocelot suggests that you make a pit-stop and explore the area in order to learn more about the Honey Bee's whereabouts.

Uncovering the intel you need is actually far easier than you might think. Immediately dismount and glance along the road leading north-east. A little way in the distance, you'll spot a small outpost with a number of patrolling guards. Activate your binoculars and mark the hostiles.

Next, shift your viewpoint around to the right, following the main road as it bends back on itself. You'll spy numerous watch towers and sentry posts as you pan across the area, so mark any soldiers that you encounter.


Honey Bee prisoner location and navigate the ravine

At the very end, as you shift your view toward the north-west, you'll come across a huddle of guards surrounding the Hamid prisoner. Quickly scan them all (adding them to your map), then watch as they enter a nearby vehicle and begin journeying toward the fort.

Next, drop down off the ledge to the right of the main road and immediately lie prone. The snipers on the opposite side of the ravine can do some serious damage if you're spotted. From here, stay low and cautiously proceed down to the ground, heading in a north-easterly direction.

Once you reach the base of the ravine, quickly slip across to the rock face opposite. Next, carefully crawl north-east, staying close to the rocks on your left. If you're spotted by any of the guards on lookout, lie low in the tall grass and activate Stealth Mode.

As you continue north-east, you'll spot a small tarpaulin and then a second covered area a little way ahead. There are likely some hostiles in both these areas, so mark them with your binoculars and proceed carefully, using the crates in the encampment as cover.

There's a towering, scaffolding-like structure a little further ahead, containing a long stairwell that leads back to the main road above. Move toward it and locate the small doorway at the base of the structure - it's on the building's south-west-facing side, hidden behind a large rock.

Once inside, take a left and look for the steps behind the black barrier. Next, carefully begin your ascent. As you reach the final staircase, proceed cautiously, peeking out over the last step to check that the route ahead is clear before proceeding.

Pay particular attention to the area on the right at the top of the steps - if there are two guards conversing here, you'll need to wait until they return to their posts before continuing. When the coast is clear, slowly make your way up the steps and duck behind the sandbags to the left.


Escape the base and continue toward the fort

From here, move clockwise around the camp perimeter, hugging the rock wall to your left. Keep watch for guards as you proceed along the wall and continue forward as it bends south-east, running alongside the main road. When you reach the bridge, duck down the slope to the left.

Pop up on the other side and continue moving south-east, using the buildings to your right as cover from any hostiles in the area. As soon as the enemy base is behind you, you're free to mount your steed and continue along the road toward your destination.

As you round a bend a little further on, you'll spy another Soviet outpost up on a hill to the left. Dismount your horse, then carefully make your way up the hill, sticking close to the rocks. You'll soon locate a short path running alongside the outpost, handily concealed by boulders to the right. Follow it forward, then rejoin the road as it bends back around toward you below.

Once on the road again, call your horse and begin following the path north-east, keeping an eye out for enemy patrols as you go. Before too long, you'll spy a series of concrete blockades running across the road, and an enemy gunship hovering overheard. This flying monstrosity can cause serious damage if it sees you, so you'll want to avoid detection at all costs.


Need help with The Phantom Pain? Our Metal Gear Solid 5 guide and walkthrough explains how to complete every main story mission, and explains their many optional objectives. We also have lists of Blueprint locations, Tape locations, Key Item locations, how to unlock S Ranks and a Metal Gear Solid 5 Achievement and Trophy list.


Avoid the gunship and reach the fort

Look for the level path running to the left of the main road as it slopes upward and begin heading along it. If you stay low and stick close to the rock wall on your left as you move north-west, you'll be able to progress beneath the helicopter without being spotted. Once you're just behind the chopper, consult your map and you'll see that there's a small path running north up the hill and between the rocks. Follow it along until you rejoin the main road.

When you've reached the road, look left and you'll spot another Soviet guard post. Thankfully, our destination lies to the right - so begin moving along the road toward the yellow waypoint marker. Soon, you'll spot a track leading between the rocks on your left-hand side. Head along the track and stop once you reach the end, overlooking a large clearing below.

Immediately scan the area for hostiles, then locate the prisoner that we tagged earlier. He should be somewhere to the north-east of the area, surrounded by soldiers. To reach him, drop off the ledge, stay low and carefully work your way down to the edge of the large clearing. At the bottom, you'll spy several piles of rubble that can be used to shield yourself from prying eyes.

From here, begin travelling clockwise around the area's perimeter. Soon, you'll reach a small hut with a satellite dish on top. Carefully move toward it and climb the wooden steps leading up to its entrance. Use the hole in the right-hand wall at the top to drop down behind the guard stationed on the other side. Take him out then scavenge the area for resources and Rough Diamonds.

As you near the soldiers surrounding the prisoner, they'll begin escorting him away, heading toward the location of the Honey Bee weapon. You need to close the distance between you and your target quickly - without being spotted, of course.

Once you reach the foot of the stone steps leading up to the large, temple-like structure, head right and cautiously approach the entrance. Scan the area for hostiles and take care of anyone in your immediate vicinity with a well-placed tranquilliser shot.


Follow the Hamid prisoner and secure the weapon

At the top of the steps, you'll spot a long corridor leading deep into the rock. It turns out that this route is pretty exposed, so we'll take a slightly more concealed path instead. Look for the small doorway in the wall to the left of the steps and slip inside, keeping watch for any guards nearby.

Next, take a left and climb the slope on the right, shuffling up toward the illuminated chamber. Deal with any hostiles in the area (making sure that the prisoner and his captors are sufficiently out of range before causing a commotion) then continue up the steps to the right.

From here, you simply need to follow the main path as it winds deeper into the cave system, maintaining a safe distance between you and the prisoner party. Unsurprisingly, you'll encounter a handful of additional patrols as you go, so you should deal with these swiftly.

Eventually, you'll descend a long flight of stone steps and emerge in a large flooded chamber. Follow the procession as it moves along then stop as the group passes through a nearby doorway into a small room ahead. Immediately locate the door to the left then make your way inside. You're now in a room adjacent to your target, so begin working your way around the corner to the right in order to reach the group undetected.

Peer around the corner once you reach it and wait for one of the soldiers to leave the party - he'll shortly begin searching the small room to the left. Quickly deal with the remaining two hostiles (a few tranquiliser darts should do the job), then hunt down the third.

With the coast clear, enter the room that the soldier was investigating and swipe the Honey Bee from the ground. When you're ready to continue, hoist the prisoner onto your shoulder then return to the water-logged chamber outside. Drop the prisoner beneath one of the opening in the ceiling and extract him with your Fulton device before continuing.

Next, look for the passage leading south-west away from the chamber and begin following it. As you near the end of the passage, a cutscene will play.

Once it's over, you'll be back outside in the large clearing. Your next task is to eliminate lightning-fast Skull operatives that move in to attack. This isn't easy: a thick mist obscures your view and the reanimated corpses of fallen soldiers attempt to throw you off your game as you move around.


Defeat the Skulls and escape the hot zone

Immediately equip the Honey Bee and turn your attention to the Skull units in the centre of the clearing. Note that you might find it easier to deal with the gun-toting Skulls first as their constant barrage of bullets can be a real pain.

Train your weapon on your first target, get a firm lock-on, then let rip. As you do, keep watch for the knife-wielding Skulls in the area, as these scamps will attempt to teleport in close to your position and launch a surprise attack. Several successful shots from the Honey Bee should be enough to bring one Skull unit down - and, if you're lucky, the weapon's blast radius will damage others in the area too. Keep attacking until all enemies are down.

When the mist clears, locate the jeep at the foot of the stone steps and ride it toward the objective marker. Once you reach the Landing Zone, hop into the chopper to end the mission. You'll earn the Afghanistan Today [3] and At Mother Base [4] cassette tapes, plus the Bear emblem and a host of new development options.

From this point on, you'll be able to assign staff at Mother Base to an Intel Team, able to investigate the field and report back with valuable information that you can use during missions.

With all that taken care of, you'll automatically return to Mother Base to check up on DD, your new canine pal. Before continuing, it's worth taking a few moments to consult your development menu and upgrade any weapons or equipment that you find yourself using regularly. You might also want to reassign personnel to boost the levels of your various Mother Base teams.

When you're ready to proceed, call a chopper then hop on board. Once you're back in the air, several new objectives will be added to your mission list: 7-Red Brass, 8-Occupation Forces, 9-Back Up, Back Down and 10-Angel With Broken Wings.


- The next part of our walkthrough explains how to complete the Red Brass mission.

- Head back to the first page for the rest of our Metal Gear Solid 5 walkthrough.