Chapter 40: Setting Up the Beehives

Chapter 40: Settling the Beehives

Back at home, Song Sancheng began a new round of busywork.

His memory was no longer what it used to be in his youth. To ensure nothing went wrong, he could only hold his phone, listening to the beekeeper's instructions over and over again before he started preparing the materials.

Hearing that his granddaughter wanted to keep bees, Song Youde hurried over to take a look right after lunch. Seeing Song Sancheng still there cutting asbestos shingles, he couldn't help but express his disdain

"Look at you, why are you being so dawdling? You should have set the beehives in place first!"

Song Tan knew immediately that her grandfather was just an amateur giving blind directions.

Sure enough, while Song Sancheng worked away grunting and huffing, he said, "Dad, don't make things harder. The beekeeper said there needs to be a rain shield pressed on top of these hives. I'm cutting this whole piece of asbestos shingle so it can be used as a cover for them."

Song Youde's old face flushed slightly from his failed attempt at directing

"You're the only one who knows how to keep bees! I used to keep them too. You have to prop the bottom of the boxes up, about ten to twenty centimeters high!"

This time, he wasn't talking nonsense. The bottom of the beehives indeed needed to be elevated—partly to prevent insects and moisture, and partly for ventilation.

Song Tan smiled. "Grandpa, you really have so much experience!"

"They also treated the boxes to prevent ants. We plan to place these hives on the outer side of the courtyard, near the back mountain."

"However, I heard the hives need to be arranged in a stepped pattern, and they need shade—could you help us look around to see which area would be more suitable?"

This was how Chinese honeybees worked; their ability to recognize their nests was relatively poor.

Therefore, not only did the hives need to be arranged in a descending stepped pattern, but there also had to be a gap of about five meters between each hive. The openings of the hives had to face south, but the direction of each individual box had to be different...

In the past, when Song Tan watched people keep bees, seeing rows upon rows of boxes, she thought they were just placed randomly.

Looking at it now, it turned out that everything had its own intricacies.

Having been assigned a task, Song Youde felt his personal value had been further realized. He took a puff from his tobacco pipe and wandered around the edge of the courtyard.

Song Sancheng glanced at his daughter, thinking to himself that the girl's silver tongue really did resemble her mother's.

Meanwhile, the girl's mother, Wulan, had prepared several shallow plates with dissolved sugar water and brought them out

"Let them eat for a couple of days first. I see some of the Chinese milk vetch in the fields is already budding; it will bloom in a few days, and then we can harvest the honey."

Despite saying this, she didn't move closer.

After all, the constant *buzz-buzz-buzz* of several clusters of bees circling around was enough to make anyone feel a bit uneasy.

Song Tan, however, didn't mind. She reached out and took the plates decisively, allowing wisps of spiritual energy to permeate them.

As soon as she set them down, the bees swarmed toward them impatiently. Seeing the spectacle, Song Sancheng muttered again

"How can they be so hungry?"

Song Tan's heart stirred—the attraction of spiritual energy was so great that she would have to practice insect-repelling techniques later. Otherwise, if a few hornets showed up, all this money would have been spent in vain.

*Well, these are just simple spells. With enough spiritual energy, I'll start tonight!*

As for Qiaoqiao, he held his box in his hands, watching Song Sancheng work with a rare sense of docility.

Once the asbestos shingles were all cut, he finally looked up and asked, "Papa, where is mine? Where is my little bear?"

"What do you mean, your little bear?"

Song Sancheng froze, then realized—it had only been a short while, and these bumblebees already had names!

"You mean the rain shield for your little bear, right?"

Qiaoqiao nodded, his eyes scanning the ground back and forth as if he were selecting which spot would be most suitable.

Song Sancheng laughed and pointed toward the storage shed in the courtyard

"Whether your bumblebee can be kept with our honeybees is a different matter entirely! Since you're just keeping it for fun, let's just put it in a corner of the shed."

"It'll be sheltered from the wind and rain, there will be fewer bugs, and it'll be safe."

If it could be kept in the courtyard, of course, it would be closer to him!

Qiaoqiao rushed over clutching his box, and before long, he had chosen a spot.

Only then did he look over again, looking pitiful: "Sister, I want to open the box and take a look."

Song Tan thought for a moment, prepared some more sugar water, infused it with spiritual energy, and then opened the box.

The chubby body of the queen bee took flight uncontrollably, then dove headfirst into the dish, sucking greedily!

Poor thing—she was likely starving and waiting to store energy to lay eggs!

Her round, fat abdomen was held high, her black and yellow fuzzy stripes clear and bright. Her rear was large, round, fuzzy, and wobbling; it looked like something one couldn't resist touching.

Qiaoqiao reached out a finger, looking tempted, but Song Tan gave him a look

"Don't you want your hand to hurt again?"

He instantly withdrew his hand, looking aggrieved.

Song Tan looked left and right, and finally placed the box in a higher spot

"No messing around."

Bumblebees can dig holes. Once the worker bees hatch and the colony grows, she would see how to arrange things then.

In any case, she wasn't expecting them to make money; she'd just treat it as a hobby for Qiaoqiao.

*Hmm...*

Recalling that fuzzy, chubby sensation, she took advantage of Qiaoqiao turning his head to quickly open the box and give it a vigorous rub!

In the dish, the bumblebee was nearly pushed directly into the sugar water by the touch. It aimlessly extended and retracted its stinger as if it had touched nothing, before finally wiggling its abdomen and burying its head back in to suck greedily.

...

Meanwhile, in Ning Province, Dr. Zhang Yuan's popularity in the hospital had soared once again!

Setting aside the hospital leadership, even the patients were coming to inquire

"Dr. Zhang, that vegetable porridge you had for lunch—everyone says you bought the vegetables yourself. What kind of vegetables were they? Where did you buy them? How much per jin? Can we patients eat them?"

Young Dr. Zhang was on the verge of shedding tears of grievance, excitement, and disbelief—

The situation was this

Those vegetables cost two hundred yuan for only about ten jin, and that didn't even include the postage!

When they arrived, just as he opened the box, the cafeteria chef wandered over

"Dr. Zhang, is the hospital sending you more vegetables?"

Zhang Yuan waved his hands hurriedly. "No, no, I bought them with my own money. They were twenty yuan per jin."

After experiencing the iron-fisted lesson from the head nurse last time, he had decided to be clever for once—he would offer these vegetables to his respected leaders!

However, after hesitating for a long time, he hadn't figured out how to bring it up when the chef had already picked up the vegetables, smelling and inspecting them

"Dr. Zhang, I heard you don't have a partner yet, right? And you're living in the dorms? Sigh, single young men are just no good. Look at this vegetable buying—no sense at all. Who buys this much at once? It'll all go to waste if you can't finish it!"

Young Dr. Zhang's face turned red from holding it in. He couldn't exactly say, *I was planning to distribute them to the leadership*, could he?

Before he could speak, the chef had already made his arrangements

"I heard the Provincial Committee is coming today. This shepherd's purse is quite good; how about I use it to make some dumplings?"

"This watercress is also good; it'll be delicious in a soup."

"Oh, this wild onion is great! Smells wonderful, I'll stir-fry it with beef!"

"This bit of Malantou... the amount is too small to make a decent dish. How about I boil a pot of vegetable porridge for you all at lunch?"

*I didn't know how to farm before, but now I seem to have extensive theoretical knowledge about beekeeping. (Writing a novel is truly not easy!)*

Asbestos shingle: A common, simple waterproofing material used for roofs in rural areas, favored for being cheap and lightweight.

Finally, there's more in the afternoon.

(End of Chapter)