Rebirth in 1984, starting from beekeeping in the mountains

Chapter 119 Record-breaking Harvest! Shake the First Batch of Farmed Honey!

at dusk.

The five members of the Xie family bee-digging team supported each other and returned to Shiwan Village in an extremely miserable manner.

This happened to be the peak time for villagers to return home after finishing their farm work.

It started from the fields about four miles away from the village.

Along the way, I kept meeting people from the village.

Looking at their extremely miserable appearance.

Every one of them was shocked.

We agreed to go up the mountain to dig honey, and to dig more than Fang Hongan and the others.

How did it become like this?

Not to mention the empty basket.

Are those swollen areas that look like red buns caused by stings?

Bees?
It doesn’t look like it!

Could it be... a ghost-headed bee?

Look at the other wounds on the body.

It was obvious that he was scratched, rubbed, and pricked by thorns in a panic while running for his life!

Got it!
Not only did I not get any honey, I was stung by a ghost bee!
This news became a big deal.

The five have not yet returned home.

The news spread in the village that the bee-digging team formed by the three loudspeakers of the Xie family went up the mountain and found no honey. They also dug into the nest of ghost bees. Everyone looked miserable.

This made the three brothers' wives so scared that they quickly ran to the street to answer the call.

People in the village also flocked to the village entrance to watch the excitement.

It is said that Xie Qiangbin and his group had to hold their breath and struggle all the way back.

Just bear with the strange looks from the people you meet along the way.

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they saw the people crowding together to watch the excitement. They were so angry that they lost their temper on the spot and collapsed to the ground. At the same time, they regretted it and wished they could find a hole to crawl into on the spot.

When this man fell, the three wives of the three brothers of the Xie family who rushed over were so frightened that they almost lost their souls.

They called people to carry them one by one, and finally they carried the five people back home.

When they arrived at the yard of the three brothers' townhouse and put it down, they heard their wives preparing to find a donkey cart to take the five of them to the clinic. The three brothers, who were pretending to be dead, quickly waved their hands to refuse.

Along the way, they had already seen each other's injuries.

Xie Qiangbin, who was stung the most seriously, was only stung five times.

If this amount happened to other people, they would probably have to go to the clinic.

But after all, Xie Qiangbin had been stung once before and had just received an injection, so the swelling at the sting site was obviously not as severe as theirs.

As for the others, at most they were stung twice.

Although it was painful, if he was taken to the clinic, it would cost a lot of money and he would be thrown into the town again.

As for the other minor wounds, they just cause some pain, but they are not serious injuries.

As soon as they "woken up", many onlookers came up to them and asked about the situation under the pretext of concern.

Faced with these "kind concerns and condolences", the five people pretended to be confused as much as possible. Anyway, they had bitten to death in their mouths. It was a beehive, and they encountered a nest of bees that suddenly went crazy. Fortunately, the five of them reacted quickly and escaped in time, thus avoiding a catastrophe.

Ghost-headed bee?
nonexistent!

After being stung once, they are very cautious in this regard!

Although they talk tough, we are not fools.

As for the swelling, could it be caused by a bee sting?
At that moment, many people smiled knowingly.

Seeing that more and more people were coming to watch the fun, the three machine guns of the Xie family, after confirming that the five people were indeed not seriously injured, prepared to quickly help the five people into the house and drive away the people who were watching the fun outside first.

But unexpectedly, he was just about to help someone.

At the entrance of the village, there was a sudden loud noise.

Soon, an extremely explosive piece of news came:

"Fang Hongan and the other three are back too! One of them is carrying a pair of baskets!"

"The basket is full of honey!"

As soon as the news spread, many people rushed to the village entrance in an instant!

"One person came back carrying a pair of baskets?"

After hearing these words, Xie Qiangbin and the other four were shocked for a moment, then shook their heads, not believing it at all.

Xie Qiangbin even tried hard to prop himself up, holding onto a hoe handle, and stood up. He walked to the tree beside the flat ground, leaned against the tree, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Impossible! We clearly ran into them when they were going up the mountain. They were carrying bamboo baskets like us, not baskets at all!"

"Three people carrying three baskets, how can they dig so much honey? This must be a mistake!"

Xie Qiangwen, Xie Qiangwu and three others also came over and looked towards the road leading to the village entrance.

Just when the five of them came over, three figures carrying baskets came closer from afar.

The five people stared and looked over carefully, and their eyes suddenly became round.

If these three figures are not Fang Hongan, Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao, then who else could they be?

As for their basket.

Even though it was covered with a film bag and the light was very dim.

But those amber-colored pieces, what else could they be but honey!
The five people only felt a rumbling sound in their heads, as if there were thunders constantly striking in their minds.

"Three...three big loads!"

"This... how can you compare it?"

……

……

the other side.

When Fang Hongan and his two companions reached the village entrance, they realized that the five-member bee-digging team from the Xie family not only failed to dig up honey, but was also stung by ghost bees.

At that time, Fang Hongan wanted to turn back along that path.

But the crowds of onlookers had already come over, leaving them no chance to turn into a side road.

Besides, they were already very tired after today's trip, and if they took another shortcut they would have to walk a long way.

At the moment, everyone just stiffened their heads and tried their best to ignore those who were just watching the fun and trying to get close to them.

He held his breath and ran through that dangerous place at the fastest speed.

Then, he gritted his teeth and used all his strength.

He struggled hard and rushed to the mud house.

When they got home, the three of them put down their burdens, lay down on the ground, and began to breathe heavily.

Lan Wenxiu was preparing dinner in the kitchen.

When I heard the noise, I saw three people collapse directly.

He was so scared that his face changed.

Seeing this, Fang Hongan quickly explained: "Wenxiu! It's okay! She's just tired! Let's lie down for a while!"

"Yes! Sister-in-law!" Wang Tong panted and explained, "I...we had a great time today!"

"In total...in total...twenty beehives were dug! Three large loads...six baskets full! Hahahaha!"

After hearing what he said, Lan Wenxiu noticed the six baskets of honey combs placed aside. She covered her mouth in shock and immediately frowned.

Seeing this scene, Fang Hongan couldn't help but frown.

Seeing Wang Tong, who was about to say hi and was still panting, preparing to continue talking about what happened on the mountain today, Fang Hongan slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Alright! Alright! Stop bragging!"

Then he turned around and smiled at Lan Wenxiu, saying, "It's just luck! We found the treasure place where bees gather to build nests! We are so tired from searching all the way! It was so comfortable when we were in the mountains!"

After Fang Hongan finished speaking, Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao were both a little confused at first.

But then, Fang Hongan was seen grinning and looking at Lan Wenxiu with a loving expression.

Everyone reacted immediately.

"Yes! Yes! We are just tired! It's not bitter at all! It just feels so good!"

"Actually, my brother wanted to come back a long time ago! We were just too obsessed with the excavation..."

The two of them echoed each other.

"Pfft!"

Lan Wenxiu was amused by these three people and smiled.

He immediately fetched water and towels for the three people.

The three of them rested for a while, and Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao took their clothes and hid in the woodshed in the backyard to change clothes.

Fang Hongan returned to the house and was about to change his clothes when the door was pushed open and his wife Lan Wenxiu pursed her lips and walked in quietly.

Fang Hongan knew that he was probably still worried about the situation of today's trip, so he smiled, took off all his clothes in front of her, turned around, and then put on his clothes.

"Don't worry about it now! Don't worry! This trip we are really..."

He couldn't help but reach forward and pull his hand. Just as he was about to speak, Lan Wenxiu reached out and blocked his mouth. Then, she looked over with her watery eyes.
"Don't worry about me and just say something light-hearted to deceive me!"

"It's not like I've never been to a mountain before!"

"I don't want to control you! I know you know how to do things in your own way!"

"I also believe that you can take care of yourself! Take care of both of them!"

"I just feel a tightness in my chest and a little uncomfortable..."

Having said that, she took another deep breath, buried her head in Fang Hongan's chest, and said very seriously:

"Thank you! Hongan!"

"I am so... happy!"

……

……

Three large baskets of honeycombs.

It took a whole night just to shake the honey.

This is the result of using two honey extractors.

The amount of honey shaken out was far more than any previous time, reaching an exaggerated 216 kilograms.

Even Fang Hongan did not expect such a weight.

However, the next day Fang Hongan heard rumors in the village that they had dug up 500 kilograms of honey.

While lamenting that the rumor was exaggerated, I didn't think the figure of more than 200 kilograms was anything worth making a fuss about.

Compared with everyone's expectations, there is still a lot of room for improvement!

Because Gouyaling was basically completely cleared yesterday.

On this day, Fang Hongan slept until noon.

After taking a walk around the orchard and checking the fifteen beehives in the thatched hut, when I returned to the mud house, Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao were already sitting at the door waiting for me.

I was too tired and too late yesterday.

So Wang Tong did not return to Shanmuling, but went directly to Fang Chengtao's house and squeezed with him for the whole night.

It looked like both of them were tired and looked like they had just woken up.

After inviting the two men into the house to eat something, Fang Hongan led them up the mountain.

After we finished digging Gouyaling yesterday, based on the results of the previous exploration, there are currently no other good hills to visit.

In addition to the hard battle yesterday, he was really exhausted. Taking advantage of the free time these few days, Fang Hongan decided to teach people like this some good honey cultivation techniques.

When we arrived at the apiary, Fang Hongjiang and the old carpenter happened to be there.

Not long ago, Fang Hongan said that he wanted to expand and renovate the wooden house and handed the task over to the two of them.

Right now, the two of them were watching Fang Hongan drawing a simple blueprint, thinking about what to do specifically.

Seeing Fang Hongan coming, he quickly pulled Fang Hongan to watch.

Fang Hongan had no experience with this kind of architectural drawings, so the drawings were just general effects.

There are many things that Fang Hongan himself hasn’t thought through.

It's normal for these two people to have many questions.

Taking the opportunity to clear up the doubts of the two people, Fang Hongan also asked for their opinions. Combining their opinions, he directly decided on some general things.

As for the details, they were fully entrusted to the two of them.

After finishing the matter with the wooden house, Fang Hongan led Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao into the apiary. He started with the daily management of the apiary and explained it to the two of them bit by bit through practical methods!
The next three days.

The three of them basically stayed in the apiary from morning to night.

During these three days, Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao were like dry sponges, greedily and attentively absorbing the knowledge that Fang Hongan taught them.
Because Fang Hongan adopts the mode of explaining while operating on the spot.

This was completely understandable to these two poor students who only finished elementary school and always failed their exams.

After four days of continuous learning and practice, we have fully mastered the basic operations in the daily management of the apiary, such as checking the beehives, adjusting the honeycombs with movable frames, changing the queen, preventing swarming, etc.

Fang Hongan was also very satisfied with the learning progress of these two people.

this day.

After teaching the two how to judge whether the bee colony has reached the conditions for honey extraction, Fang Hongan led the two to check the beehives in the thatched hut and the apiary.

The results are very encouraging.

Among these 80 beehives, 20 have actually reached the standards for honey extraction.

Among them, the 15 boxes in the thatched house all met the standards for honey extraction.

In the beehive, the capping area on several honey combs accounts for nearly eighty percent of the entire live frame.

So, early the next morning, the three of them carried the honey extractor to the hut.

At first glance, the operation of collecting honey from bees raised in movable frames is very simple. It seems that all you have to do is take out the movable frame and put it into the honey shaker.

But in fact, it is far from that simple.

First of all, the choice of time is very important.

Bee colonies that meet the honey-collecting standards are basically strong colonies.

The nectar source is relatively stable, and the worker bees have a fairly regular schedule in collecting nectar.

Basically, they go out of the boxes to collect honey after daybreak in the morning, and large quantities of them return around noon.

The honey that is just collected, if it has not been capped and fermented, is called water honey. The pollen in the water honey has not been fully integrated with the nectar, and it has a high water content. It has a thin taste, a light flavor, and a slightly sour taste.

If the honey is mixed with the freshly returned honey when it is shaken, the quality of the honey will be greatly affected.

In order to ensure the quality of honey, it is best to collect and shake the honey before the large number of worker bees return from collecting honey at noon.

Furthermore, even if the worker bees go out to collect honey, the honey combs are still the place where the bees gather in large numbers.

Take out the honeycomb from which you want to extract honey and put it into the honey shaker. Make sure all the bees on the honeycomb are cleared away.

This step is called bee removal.

This step is actually the same as cleaning the bees on the honeycombs before taking them out when collecting wild honey.

But farmed bee colonies are different from wild bee colonies.

There is no need to worry about causing harm to the wild bees in the swarm, and the cleaning action can be quite violent.

But when raising bee colonies, it is necessary to minimize damage to the colonies.

This kind of harm includes not only not hurting the bees, but more importantly, not causing a riot in the bee colony.

Bee colonies have a natural instinct to protect their honey combs. Once the action of removing the bees is too large or you are too eager to achieve results, the bee colony will engage in protective behavior, and the rioting bees will surround and sting people.

In serious cases, it will cause instability in the entire colony, which will in turn affect the honey production efficiency of the entire beehive.

Worse still, it may lead to the colony’s escape or swarming.

Anyway...

In the case of professional breeding, the factors to be considered and the standards to be pursued in honey extraction and shaking are much higher than those in collecting wild honey.

After making sure that all the tools were ready, Fang Hongan placed the honey extractor in an open area outside the hut.

Then he led Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao into the wooden house, opened a box of bees, selected the live frames that needed honey, and started by removing the bees from the honey combs, explaining everything as he went along.

In order to ensure that both of them could see the details clearly, Fang Hongan deliberately slowed down his movements.

Pick up the brown-bristle brush used for removing bees, make an angle of about 20 degrees between the brush and the honey comb, and then gently brush downwards.

This brown bristle brush is specially made, and the tip of the brush has been boiled and tanned, making it quite soft.

With this soft brushing, the bees gathered on the honey combs are gently brushed into the beehive.

Borrow, is the second brush, the third brush...

After about four brushes, the honey combs were completely free of bees.

Pick up the entire honey comb and continue waving the brush on it to drive away the bees that want to fly up.

After arriving at the honey shaker outside the house, the next step is to cut the honey cap. This step is also a necessary step when shaking wild honey. Wang Tong and Fang Chengtao have already mastered it, so there is nothing much to say.

The only thing they need to be reminded is that because the movable frame honey comb is to be reused, they should try to minimize the impact on the nesting cells when cutting the honey cap with a scraper.

After cutting the honey cap, just put the entire nest frame directly into the honey shaking buckle.

This wooden honey shaker can shake four honey frames at the same time.

So next, Fang Hongan followed suit and put in three nest frames one by one.

The two of them know how to operate and master the honey shaker even with their eyes closed.

There is no need to waste any more words.

It only takes less than half an hour to shake four blocks of honey.

But after opening the honey extractor, they were amazed at the honey accumulated in the wooden barrel of the honey extractor.

The depth of the accumulation seemed to be no less than thirty kilograms.

You have to know that with just these four honey combs, according to their previous experience, they could only hold about ten kilograms of honey.

But now, it has almost doubled.

This honey yield rate is simply too high!
(End of this chapter)