The RUST Beekeeping System is an optional game progression subsystem made available to players with the March 2025 update. Much like other passive systems such as fishing and farming, Beekeeping is geared more towards the PVE side of things, allowing the collection of new ‘currency’ type items and consumables and craftables to fashion a new weapon.
To understand the mechanics of the Beekeeping System, we must first define each component’s function individually and how they may work together to create a tangible ecosystem for honey producers.
Apicultural Components
In total, there are 5 Beekeeping System-exclusive components/tools available. While each item already appears in greater detail in our RUST Item Database, you will find a short synopsis below.
Beehive Nucleus
The Beehive Nucleus is an item received through the extraction of Honeycomb that players may find in the wild and is the core of the Beekeeping System.
Before a Beehive nucleus may be used, it must first be inserted into a Beehive, which may be learned via the tier 1 workbench and crafted by players. If you consider the Beehive the body of the car, the Beehive nucleus is absolutely the engine.
Once the Beehive is placed, players may insert the nucleus into the center of the GUI. Depending on atmospheric conditions, a passive timer will begin while the nucleus is inserted. These conditions are discussed below under Beehive.
Grading XP System
The Beehive Nucleus works on a Grade scale, which is a work in progress but does have a purpose. By default, at this time, a freshly found nucleus will start at Grade 3. It requires 200 total XP to ‘level’ from Grade 3 to 2, at which time it will convert to Grade 2 (the lower the grade, the better). The XP from Grade 2 to 1 triples, requiring 600 XP.
With the default Grade 3, every 2 minutes, so long as the overall condition is 100%, a green filling progress bar will appear on top of the Beehive nucleus. It takes three total ticks for it to fill, or around six real-world minutes. At the culmination of the 3rd tick, a fresh Honeycomb will appear in the output bar at the bottom. The nucleus then resets its progress and begins ticking again. Once the Beehive reaches grade 2, this process is sped up with a marked output in overall productivity, with it happening again when grade 1 is reached.
If you remove the nucleus at any point, the progress made is reset, and the bar must begin at 0, requiring another full six minutes.
Beehive Nuclei are supposed to be found at random starting grades and an experience bar. When the 8th tick is complete, the nucleus will gain two experience points, meaning that it will take 600 minutes at maximum attributes until it reaches a Grade 2. To go from Grade 2 to 1 will require an additional 1800 minutes.
Beehive
To place the Beehive, players must first have Tool Cupboard privilege or ensure that none exists. This item will decay over time if there isn’t a Tool Cupboard like any other deployable. Any player may interact with the Beehive regardless of privilege, but only those with it may pick this item up with a Hammer.
While Honeycomb is inside the Beehive, a swarm will encircle it, and removing any item from it may cause a small amount of damage, except to those wearing Hazmat Suits.
Conditional Information
Much like growing and harvesting plants with farming, Bees come with their own optimal ‘growing’ conditions, directly impacting the hive’s rate and progress. These Conditions are as follows;
Inside
Bees prefer to be kept outside. So what does this mean? For the Beehive to be classified as ‘Inside,’ it must be placed on a foundation and be surrounded by walls, roofs, doorways, or window frames. Players wanting to maximize the overall satisfaction of the swarm need only place it in an area where there is direct open access to the grass, snow, or sand. So long as a path unobstructed by any of the above construction types to the outside world exists, the Beehive will display the status “Inside: No.” And it will not be negatively impacted.
Humidity
The weather determines humidity. Rain or snow reduces this stat, but player precautions, such as a roof or a nearby campfire, offset it.
Temperature
Brass tacks, Bees like to be comfortable, just like a player. If you would otherwise see a temperature bar appear on the side of your screen as a naked, Bees wouldn’t be 100% comfortable there. They prefer the temperate biome during the day and any biome with an Electric Heater within comfort range at night. As with humidity, there isn’t much that can be done to prevent the passage of time, so plan accordingly.
Honeycomb
Honeycombs are a consumable and extraction item that players may find in the wild but are best acquired with the Beekeeping System.
There are two chief methods of gathering Honeycomb:
Most predictably, you may utilize the Beekeeping System to ‘grow’ them, making gathering and processing a breeze. Be sure to check out that guide.
Alternatively, honeycomb is a collectible food item found on the sides of Oaktree types in RUST. Players are presented with large, orange, multilayered combs attached directly to the tree, often with swarming bees flying around them. There are 6 variants to be found.
They may be collected by taking a melee weapon and striking the comb directly, resulting in damage being dealt to the comb and finally dropping to the ground as a lootable object. As a result, the swarm of bees that resided there will then attack the player that destroyed their home, being quite persistent and dealing damage over time. Hatcheting a tree that possesses a comb will also result in it falling to the ground and the bees attacking.
To avoid damage from the bees, when removing the honeycomb from the Beehive or the tree, players can utilize a Torch-type item to deter them, a campfire to disperse them temporarily, or a Hazmat to negate the damage they deal. The bees will follow you for quite a distance before giving up, but getting into a body of water causes them to flee permanently, as does splashing oneself.
Honeycombs themselves give very minimal benefit when eaten directly, raising player calories by 5. Their most significant utility is, through extraction, a new action accessible from the item description popup in the player inventory. Extracting yields an even better product, the Jar of Honey, at a rate of 1 to 1. In addition to the Jar, there is also a roughly 10% chance that a Beehive Nucleus can be extracted, which is the core of the Beekeeping System.
Jar of Honey
Jars of Honey are a consumable and tradeable item that players may obtain through the process of extraction from Honeycombs. As a consumable, Jars of Honey offers a large caloric payout of 60 as well as a Radiation reduction of 15. They may also be used in Fishing, having a bait value of 1 and a stack size of 1.
Jars of Honey act in much the same way that Fertilizer does: They are a direct tradable item at the Bandit Camp, resulting in yet another mode of passive Scrap production.
Bee Grenade
Finally, while not exactly having much to do with the Beekeeping System itself, we’d be slacking in our duties if we didn’t mention the combat-aspect of honey production. Modeled after the Flashbang, the Bee Grenade has the same basic user functionality with a much different after effect.
Instead of a traditional instant damage effect or even the flash and disorienting effect, the Bee Grenade does what one would think it should; it sicks a swarm of pissed-off pollinators on anyone nearby when it detonates. More correctly, it spawns a Master swarm that will then deploy three sub-swarms.
Unlike alternate grenade effects, the swarm endures for quite a long time, or until the person haunted by it is doused with water, equips a hazmat, or uses fire to temporarily scare them off (they do come back from fire). They do very minor but very persistent damage over time and will follow a player for a long time. Be aware that you can accidentally deploy it on yourself.
Dealing with Bees
To avoid the damage from the bees, either when removing the honeycomb from the Beehive or the tree, or god forbid getting Bee-naded, players can utilize either a Torch-type item to deter them, a campfire to disperse them temporarily, or a Hazmat to negate the damage they deal. The bees will follow you for quite a distance before giving up, but getting into a body of water causes them to flee permanently, as does splashing oneself.
No, splashing the hives directly does nothing. They will also refrain from stinging players around the hive unless you interact with it.
Blueprints
The only blueprint you really need to get started with the Beekeeping System is the Beehive itself, which may be obtained on the Workbench Level 1.
Getting Started with the RUST Beekeeping System
Aside from acquiring the above blueprint, players really need to consider the environment that they intend to setup their apiary in, as well as what they want to get out of it. If you plan to use beekeeping as your chief scrap-producing method for a wipe cycle, you might be best finding the greenest pasture near your local Bandit Camp monument possible and setting up shop.
If you want to do it more as a hobby, less-than-ideal conditions might work. The bees will produce Honeycomb, but your prep work will determine how much and how fast.
Beekeeping System Admin Commands & Convars
As with all systems added to RUST, console variables allow administrative changes to things such as timing, rate of transfers, etc. Below are all the convars related to the Beekeeping System that are available in-game, with many strictly designed for quality assurance and testing.
Convar
Description
beeswarmai.disable
This command gives the admin the ability to disable bee swarm effects when removing a honeycomb from a tree. Effects persist when hit when the bee grenade.
beehive.updatehiveinterval
How long before a Beehive will Update (default 120 seconds)
beehive.updatehivestatsinterval
How long before the Beehive will perform temperature and inside checks (default 120 seconds)
beehive.xpincreaseperhoneycomb
How much the nucleus’s XP should be increased per honeycomb generated (default 2)
While these commands, components, and values have been added to live servers, it is essential to remember that the game developer can alter or remove anything at any time. We will do our best to keep up with these changes, but the struggle is real
