Chapter 111

With so many pets at home, besides treating them all equally, the most important thing to remember is to have principles.

Although Shi Wen a pang of envy seeing them being affectionate and can't help but want to give them more honey water, as I've already mentioned, each animal only gets one bowl, so I can only give them one bowl.

If you go back on your word, your next words won't carry much weight.

Gong Jiang and his family also drink honey water at home.

Brother Shi Ge Yue: "I always feel that the things in your house are particularly magical, like things that are ordinary in other people's hands, but become completely different in your hands."

Shi Wen, "That's right. Don't you see how much effort I've put in? In temperatures tens of degrees below zero, while everyone else is huddled at home by the fire, I have to carry blankets to keep the bees warm. In winter, I have to feed them; in spring, I have to take them out to defecate; and in summer, I have to pay attention to planting relevant nectar-producing plants for them, protecting them from wind, insects, and diseases. I spend a lot of time on this all year round."

Lin Chengqian: "Brother Shi, what you said has quickly dispelled my desire to raise bees."

Shi Wen Wenxiao said, "Maybe it really is possible. In a couple of years, when I've developed a better bee breed, I can give you a few hives if you want—if you have the space to keep bees."

Ge Yue immediately raised her hand and said, "I want him. Brother Shi, I can take him back to the countryside for my grandparents to raise."

Shi Wen: "Where do your grandparents live?"

Ge Yue: "They live in Hai City, but they still live in the countryside. They used to raise bees, but it was definitely not as good as yours. I didn't like honey when I was a kid; I always thought it had a weird taste."

Shi Wen, "And now?"

Ge Yue stuck out her tongue. "Now I can't stop. It's a pity that my grandparents don't care much about bees except for using them for medicinal purposes, so there's hardly any honey left at home to eat."

Shi Wen, "Does beekeeping cure diseases?"

Chapter 111

Ge Yue introduced the topic of using bees for medicinal purposes.

Ge Yue: "It's actually a folk remedy; they call it bee sting therapy. Older people often suffer from rheumatism or aches and pains. When they're in pain, they'll attach a bee and sting the affected area."

Shi Wen hissed, "That hurts so much, will it even help?"

Ge Yue: "I think so? My grandparents felt much better after using it, but it might just be a placebo effect."

Seeing the surprised expressions on everyone's faces, Ge Yue explained somewhat embarrassedly, "Many types of rheumatism, gout, and neuralgia cannot be cured; we can only try to alleviate them, so people are willing to try all sorts of folk remedies."

Everyone understands this; when you're in pain, you don't care about science or anything like that, as long as it works.

Ge Yue: "My grandparents are doing well. Many elderly people in the village don't have much money and don't want to trouble their children to take them to the hospital all the time. When they're in pain, they catch a couple of bees and sting them; it's cheap and convenient."

Shi Wen hearing this, Shi Wen sighed; poverty was indeed something that couldn't be helped.

Ge Yue and his team frequently went out to conduct research and gained in-depth understanding of various forms of poverty. Compared to them, this level of poverty was nothing, and everyone took it in stride.

Lin Chengqian curiously, "If that's the case, could Brother Shi cultivate good bees to help treat diseases?"

Shi Wen his hand and said, "Let's talk about it later. Outsiders shouldn't meddle in insider matters. I don't have the relevant qualifications, so it's best not to rush into this industry. It wouldn't be good if I ended up ruining people's lives."

Ge Yue: "Brother Shi, if you have this idea, there's absolutely no way you would plot against someone for money."

Shi Wen said, "Even if I didn't intend to, what if something unexpected happened?"

Everyone is just chatting here. In reality, Shi Wen has no reputation outside and doesn't know anyone in the relevant field, so the possibility of him actually using bees to treat diseases is extremely slim.

He's now thinking about whether he can split the bees into more colonies to increase production.

Their honey is so good, and their ranch is so big, it's such a waste to only keep six hives. Theoretically, keeping twenty or thirty hives would be perfectly fine.

He currently has six beehives at home, and plans to divide each hive into three smaller hives. He plans to raise eighteen hives this year and then see if he needs to adjust the number next year.

For this reason, he had previously set about breeding a new queen bee, and now it's almost time to start swarming.

He had no experience in raising queen bees or swarming bees. In order to avoid any mishaps, he specifically called Reheman asked him to come down the mountain to oversee things for him at a price of 300 yuan a day.

Reheman arrived at his ranch and inspected the queen-breeding frame he had made. "You've done a good job raising this new queen bee. You could have done it yourself even without my help."

Shi Wen smiled and said, "It's not that I lack confidence; I hope the senior can give me some guidance."

Reheman: "Let me see the throne in your Yuwang frame."

The new royal throne resembles a cicada pupa, and the new king resides within it.

Because there's no way to see the queen bee inside, Shi Wen can only choose based on her intuition, which makes her selections somewhat inaccurate.

Reheman helped Shi Wen select twelve kings. "These twelve are good. Have you finished setting up your mating group?"

Shi Wen quickly took Reheman to see it. "It's all done, it's all here."

Shi Wen that mating colonies are placed in new hives. These new colonies contain honeycombs, pollencombs, and capped brood combs that are about to hatch, as well as some large larvae.

Put the queen bee in, and a new colony will soon be established.

Reheman inspected his bee colony, a look of appreciation appearing in his aged eyes. "It's better than the average beekeeper's; it's good enough."

Shi Wen, "I learned it all by watching videos."

Reheman: "You've learned well. You just need to make a few minor adjustments to your mating pattern."

As he spoke, Reheman slowly adjusted his Shi Wen.

Shi Wen quickly jotted it down in my phone's notes app, thinking about it as I wrote.

Reheman: "In a couple of days, you need to check the new queen bee's emergence. If she dies or is of poor quality, you should immediately replace her with a new queen. Next week, check the queen's mating progress, and the week after that, check her egg-laying. If it's not good enough, replace her again."