Chapter 38: Buying Beehives

Chapter 38: Buying Beehives

Song Sancheng's intuition regarding the weather was indeed correct.

Just as the three of them finished spreading the fertilizer across this tea garden, a drizzling spring rain began to fall. The father and daughter hurried back, with only Qiaoqiao jumping joyfully

"It's raining hard!"

Fortunately, the path was lined with hills and trees, and the rain wasn't heavy at first, so they didn't get too soaked on the way home. Song Tan thought back to that tea garden; since she had given it her spiritual energy, it wouldn't be right if it didn't grow vigorously, would it?

"Dad, I think the tea will be ready for picking in a few days. Since we'll have to hire people everywhere this year anyway, it won't matter if we add one or two more."

"If there isn't enough time to pick the tea, then just hire people."

"Why would we need to hire people?" Wulan felt that if she didn't keep an eye on her daughter, the girl would spend money recklessly.

How much could tea sell for per jin? Hiring people was expensive! It would cost at least 150 yuan a day.

Song Tan, however, felt her mother's mindset hadn't shifted yet!

"Mom, I can sell wild vegetables for twenty, and I can sell Chinese milk vetch for twenty. Why do you think I can't sell tea for two thousand per jin?"

Normally, a skilled worker during the peak tea season would only harvest about three or four jin of top-grade buds from morning to night.

Four jin of tea yields one jin of dried tea, and one jin of dried tea only sells for a hundred or two hundred yuan—that definitely wouldn't be profitable.

But the problem was, the prices were different now.

The best window for spring tea is only about twenty days long; once Qingming passes, the quality drops. Naturally, they had to hurry.

Wulan pondered. Although she had confidence in her daughter, she had no confidence in selling local tea for two thousand yuan per jin. But she had just agreed that the daughter would call the shots regarding farm work...

She hesitated: "Even so, there's no need to hire people. Your dad, your grandpa, your grandma, and I can all help. Our tea garden is only that one plot; it's enough."

Song Tan began counting on her fingers: "When we're picking tea, someone has to worry about breeding and seedlings, right? Someone has to look after the chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs at home. And doesn't someone need to check on the black wood ear mushrooms in the chestnut forest? And the milk vetch needs to be harvested and processed every day, right?"

"Mom, I already feel like our family isn't big enough. If you all go to pick tea, I'll have to learn how to split myself into multiple bodies first."

With the current concentration of spiritual energy, Song Tan felt that if she practiced for a few decades, she might actually master that trick.

Provided she didn't scare anyone away.

Wulan: "..."

She was speechless.

Thinking about the money they made selling vegetables this year, it should be enough to cover labor costs!

So, she steeled her heart

"Fine then. I'll find two quick workers in the village—will we also need to hire a tea roaster? It's been years since your dad did that work; we don't want him to ruin the batch."

Song Tan couldn't quite remember who in the village knew how to roast tea or who owned a tea roasting machine. However, for a small job like theirs, it wouldn't be too expensive—

"Okay, Mom. You and Dad discuss the arrangements."

As they were talking, the phone rang. Song Sancheng answered and chatted for a while

"Tantan, do you want to go look at some bees? They're over in Songshu Town."

...

The bee seller was in Songshu Town.

Songshu Town was next to Qingxi Town and wasn't far from their Yunqiao Village; it was only a twenty-minute drive.

Because this area had many mountainous regions, the local residents relied primarily on tea picking for income, so there were naturally many flowering trees on the hillsides.

Consequently, there was a very famous bee-keeping family in Songshu Town.

Song Tan drove Song Sancheng and Qiaoqiao up the mountain road. When they saw a large cardboard sign by the roadside written in ink saying [Farmhouse Wild Honey], they knew they had arrived.

Because this apiary was located on a mountain road, the buildings weren't as orderly as those by the roadside; there was even a simple corrugated iron shed built next to them.

In the open space halfway up the hill in front of the gate, square wooden boxes were arranged in an orderly fashion. Under the sunlight, the fuzzy bodies of the bees vibrated, making a particularly distinct buzzing sound.

They hovered continuously at a low altitude, but because the mountain temperature was slightly low and few fruit trees had bloomed yet, they eventually settled in front of a shallow water dish.

"Old Song, you're here!"

A man with messy hair wearing a black sweater walked out. Seeing Song Tan's family of three, he acted extremely warmly

"These are your son and daughter, right? They're so good-looking—come, you want bees, right? What kind do you want? I'll show them to you!"

"But I don't have Italian bees here, only Chinese bees—the local wild ones. They're small. This box has five combs, and each comb has about three thousand bees... It's not easy raising them in the dead of winter!"

Beekeepers call the bees' living quarters "combs" (pi); the top part is the bees' nest, consisting of hexagonal cells.

Generally, with combs of the same specification, the number of bees living in them is roughly the same. That's how they are—the house can't be too big, nor can it be too small.

The man was quite honest; before they had even said anything, he had already started introducing his stock.

Song Tan nodded: "That's fine, Uncle. I want our local wild bees—about how much honey can one box produce?"

At the mention of this, the middle-aged man's face filled with pride and smiles: "Don't look at our wild bees being small; they are hardworking. They are more capable than Italian bees and aren't picky. If there are plenty of flowers, one box can easily produce eighty jin."

"If there aren't enough flowers, they might not even be able to feed themselves."

Speaking of this, the beekeeper also sighed

"In previous years, I would drive south in the winter. There are more flowers there and it's warmer. The market hasn't been good these past two years, so I can't just wander around everywhere. I've been worrying all winter—see, I have to feed them sugar water. Otherwise, they wouldn't survive."

"Old Song, we're fellow villagers, so I won't hide it from you. Bee prices are naturally higher at the start of spring. This box is six hundred yuan. If you're serious about wanting them, I'll give them to you for 560. I won't lie to you, the sugar water I'm feeding them is just enough to keep them alive; there's no honey."

"But once the flowers bloom, they'll adjust immediately—you definitely won't lose money if you buy them."

Song Tan had checked online before, and this price seemed fair. Now, she looked at Song Sancheng.

Song Sancheng didn't understand bees either!

After thinking for a moment, he was also honest: "My family has fourteen acres of flower fields. How many do you think would be appropriate to buy? Also, how do you judge if the bees are good or bad?"

The beekeeper thought about it: "Normally, one box per three acres is the rule, and getting six or seven jin of honey per acre shouldn't be a problem. Since there are few flowers now and you don't have much experience, just take four boxes—or even three will do."

As for how to tell if the bees were good...

To the astonishment of the family of three, the man didn't even put on gloves. With his bare, "iron" hands, he fearlessly opened a beehive and pulled out a comb

"Look, these worker bees are very industrious."

As he spoke, he casually grabbed another handful from the other side. Over a dozen fuzzy bees crawled around his palm, fluttering their wings in low flight. One particularly large one was very obvious

"Look, this is the queen. Isn't she a beauty?"

Qiaoqiao crouched to the side, eyes full of envy, reaching out her hand

"Qiaoqiao wants to touch it too..."

The beekeeper shuddered and quickly put the bees back

"You can't touch them! Getting stung hurts terribly! Usually, you have to wear veils and gloves!"

*That's it for today!*

*The dangerous actions of the little bees in this chapter are not to be imitated. Please bear the consequences yourself. Considering some readers may have trypophobia, no pictures will be provided.*

*Finally, important news:*

*The book will be released on August 11th at midnight. There will likely be a flash recommendation that day. Please, dear readers, do not binge-read; please support me!!!*

*On 8/11, remember to spend money on me!*

*(Also, if the word count is high, there might be a paywall break, as my updates are too aggressive! So please don't binge-read, as binge-reading might require more subscription money.)*

*(End of Chapter)*