Spring Thunder Chapter 0218: Make it a Luxury
Qian Tangsheng’s apiary is located on the edge of a valley near the outskirts of a group of linden trees. The valley here is very steep, as if it was a hole split open by a sword used by a sword-wielding Shushan sword immortal. The slope is bare and not a single blade of grass grows.
Just when Nan Yi was thinking in a bizarre direction, Qian Tangsheng directly pulled his fantasy back.
"Have you ever seen something that reflects light on a slope, petals of it that look like glass?"
“Yes.”
"That's pyrite, also known as stinking onion stone. When the sun is strong in the summer, it will emit a garlic smell when it shines on it. I've also seen this slope spontaneously combust without fire. It should be that the phosphorus content here is also very high. When it rains on rainy days, the phosphorus is exposed and spontaneously combusts when it encounters air."
"Brother Qian, it's boring to say that. You should say there is an ancient tomb below, where some important person is buried. Ghostly fire will be emitted every full moon night, and ghost soldiers will pass through the valley below."
"Nan Yi, how can a staunch materialist believe in such filthy things? We must believe in science."
“I don’t know whether the end of science is theology, but the end of top scientists is definitely charlatanism. In his later years, Newton found that there were more and more phenomena that he could not explain, let alone summarize a set of formulas and principles.
Therefore, he firmly believed that there must be a God in this world, and he attributed all the inexplicable phenomena to miracles created by God. "
"It can only be said that human power is limited. He cannot explain it, but there must be someone who can explain it later. Every era has its own limitations. Scientists are also human beings. There are some shackles that they cannot break through."
"Brother Qian, you are very philosophical. Why didn't you think of taking an examination outside in 1977?"
"I like this place and I want to spend the rest of my life here. People are too complicated. I still like the simplicity of animals. It's nice to interact with bees and animals in Changbai Mountain.
I have encountered wolves in the mountains, but they did not attack me; I have also encountered Siberian tigers, but they did not eat me either.
Black beetles often come to steal honey. At first they would destroy the beehives, but over time, a tacit understanding developed between me and them.
They come once every half a month. I will put a pound of honey under the tree and they will share it. They will not destroy the beehive. They will leave after eating. After half a month, they will come again, and this cycle will repeat.
Before hibernation, I will prepare more for them so that they can survive the winter better."
"Brother Qian, you don't go hunting, do you?"
"No, I don't have a hunting rifle, and I don't use traps. If you want to eat meat, you can buy it from hunters. I only eat wild boar meat, not meat from other beasts."
"Why?"
"I've seen pigs jumping around, but I can't eat them. Pigs are different. Maybe I've formed a subconscious mindset since I was a child that eating pork is natural, so I don't feel guilty about eating pork."
"Haha, poor pig."
After chatting, Qian Tangsheng walked to the beehives, opened a beehive, pulled out a partition from it, pulled out a piece of honeycomb from it, slapped off the bees on it with his hands, broke off a piece and handed it to Nan Yi.
Nan Yi put it in his mouth and took a small bite. A natural sweet fragrance burst in his mouth. He hurriedly gave Qian Tangsheng a thumbs up, then took out a lunch box from his backpack and put the remaining beehives in it.
Qian Tangsheng took a look and handed over what he had in his hand, and Nan Yi put them away together.
After putting away his backpack, he walked closer to the beehive and leaned over to look at the world inside the hive.
The hexagonal hives of bees and the complex nests of ants were things that Nan Yi was very curious about when he was a child. He once fantasized about turning into a bee or an ant and going to take a look inside their nests.
Qian Tangsheng saw that Nan Yi was interested, so he introduced to Nan Yi the functions and principles of each component in the beehive, and also explained to Nan Yi the pyramid-shaped power structure of bees.
"A bee colony is composed of three types of bees, namely the queen bee, drones, and worker bees, each performing their own duties and cooperating with each other. The queen bee's main function is to lay eggs and reproduce offspring, while the drone's main function is to mate with the queen;
Worker bees go through four age stages in their life: young bees, young bees, mature bees and old bees.
The general labor activities of worker bees include: tending, making honey, collecting pollen, collecting honey, and guarding. Young bees are worker bees that have been out of the hive for 1-5 days. Young bees are worker bees that have been out of the hive for 6-18 days. Since young bees and young bees mainly move inside the hive, they are collectively called office bees.
After 18 days, the worker bees are mature bees, and their main job is to collect living materials for the hive, such as nectar, pollen, water, salt, etc.
When worker bees enter old age, most of the hair on their body is worn off, their body color becomes darker, and they appear smaller. They are mainly engaged in collecting water, collecting salt, and guarding the nest entrance.
During periods of nectar shortage, old bees will form a stealing team to steal nectar from other bee colonies. If they are discovered, a fight between the two colonies will occur. Therefore, old bees rarely live to old age and basically die in a fight.
Bees have a tacit understanding. The old bees are definitely the ones rushing to the front line. When the two armies confront each other, they play the role of the suicide squad, usually injuring one thousand of the enemy and losing eight hundred of their own.
I have enough nectar here, but every time before winter comes, fights still break out between beehives. I think it may be similar to an anecdote I read in a miscellaneous book. "
"What's the allusion? The grave-sealing bricks?"
"You've seen it, too?"
“I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard about it from others. It’s said that in some areas in ancient times, when an old man reached a certain age, he would be sent to a pre-made tomb. His family would bring him food, and after each meal, they would seal the tomb with a brick until the tomb was completely sealed.
This statement is rather absurd. Even if we put aside ethics and morality and only talk about labor, when you were in Qiantang’s hometown, how many elderly people did you see who were still able to move and work?
As long as they are not bedridden, which old man can't make enough food to feed himself? "
"That's right. In our village, if an old man refuses to go to the fields one day, his family will know that his time is coming. Otherwise, as long as he can still move, every old man will work very hard, no matter how much he works, as long as he can eat enough."
"Yes." Nan Yi sighed and said, "Brother Qian, how many bees do you think can ?"
"It's not a problem to feed 2 billion bees, but if we really feed that many, the quality of honey will definitely not be as good as it is now."
"With 2 billion bees, the annual honey production is more than 1,800 tons, which is too much. Scarcity makes things valuable. If there are so many, you can't sell the honey at a good price.
Brother Qian, in addition to sending your honey for inspection, I will also send it abroad to have people try its taste. If foreigners like it very much, we won't talk about whether to purchase it or not.
I will invest the money and you will manage it. We will expand the apiary and get 5,000 beehives. You will be responsible for raising them and I will be responsible for selling them. We will split the profits equally.”
"Sure, I like raising bees. If I want to raise more, I just need to find a few more helpers. Beekeeping doesn't require a lot of work. One person can take care of 50 beehives without getting too tired."
"Well, there are some things I need to make clear. If you want to sell your honey at a high price, you have to create a brand. For example, the West Lake brand is considered a big brand in Qiantang. If it is not a good product, how can it be qualified to carry the West Lake brand?
To build a good brand, the quality of honey must be good. There are many other aspects that need attention, such as the honey cannot easily flow out. Some people cannot stop it, so it should be given away, but others cannot.
When the time comes, we will provide benefits to those who help us keep bees. We can give them money, meat or fish, but we cannot give them honey.
If everyone can eat our honey, then those who spend a lot of money to eat it will think that our honey is not so rare, the value will fall, and we will not be able to sell it at a high price.
Our honey should be like the snow frog and oriental pearls in the past, which were tributes that only the nobles in the palace could enjoy. "
“Only to a few people?”
"Yes, it is only sold to a few people and only sold in a few places."
Nan Yi plans to make Qiantang raw honey into a top-level luxury food ingredient and cooperate with a three-star Michelin restaurant. Any pan-fried honey lamb chops, steak, or chicken chops can be sold at sky-high prices as long as their honey is used.
Forget about selling it in the vegetable market. When you buy a pound of honey, not only do you have to bargain hard, but you also have to spare two bee pupae. At the end, you can taste it and still eat half a pound or eight ounces. If you dare to complain, people will say to you: "How can you be so stingy as a country boy..."
Not to mention the vegetable market, Nan Yi has no plans to launch this honey in the domestic market for the time being. He will first try to fool the wealthy people in Europe and America who would like to wrap every vegetable with gold foil, and by the way, fool the Japanese who can make Jinke La into "top-notch delicacy".
