Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 38

Song Sancheng’s prediction about the weather was spot on.

Just as the three of them finished fertilizing the tea garden, spring rain started to drizzle down. Song Sancheng and Song Tan hurried back home, while Qiao Qiao happily jumped around in the rain, exclaiming, “It’s raining hard!”

Fortunately, the way back was mostly through forested slopes, and the rain wasn’t too heavy at first, so they didn’t get too wet. Song Tan thought about the tea garden, thinking that with the spiritual energy she had infused, the plants should grow vigorously.

“Dad, I think the tea leaves will be ready for picking in just a few days. We’re already hiring people for other tasks, so we might as well hire some for this too.”

“No need to hire anyone,” Wu Lan interjected. She felt her daughter needed to be monitored; she had no sense of the value of money.

“Tea leaves don’t sell for much per pound, and hiring people is expensive! It costs at least 150 yuan a day.”

Song Tan felt her mother hadn’t adjusted her mindset yet!

“Mom, I can sell wild vegetables for twenty yuan, clover for twenty yuan, so why can’t I sell tea leaves for two thousand yuan per pound?”

In the past, a skilled worker could pick three to four pounds of fresh tea leaves a day when the leaves were plentiful. Four pounds of fresh leaves produced one pound of dry tea, which only sold for one to two hundred yuan. That was not cost-effective.

But now, the prices were different.

The best time for spring tea was only about twenty days. After Qingming Festival or Tomb-Sweeping Day, the quality would drop, so they had to make the most of it.

Wu Lan thought for a moment. She had confidence in her daughter but was skeptical about selling local tea for two thousand yuan per pound. However, she had agreed to follow her daughter’s lead on farming matters…

She hesitated, “Even so, there’s no need to hire people. Your dad, your grandparents, and I can help. Our tea garden isn’t that big; it’s enough.”

Song Tan started counting on her fingers, “We need to worry about seedlings during the tea picking season. Someone needs to take care of the chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. The black fungus in the chestnut grove needs attention. Clover needs to be picked and cleaned daily.”

“Mom, I already feel like we don’t have enough people. If you all go to pick tea, I might need to learn how to clone myself first.”

With the current level of spiritual energy, Song Tan felt she could probably master that skill after a few decades of cultivation.

Wu Lan: …

She was speechless.

Thinking about the money they had made from selling vegetables this year, she decided they could afford to hire laborers.

“Alright, I’ll find a couple of quick workers in the village—do we need to hire someone to process the tea too? Your dad hasn’t done it in years, and he might ruin it.”

Song Tan couldn’t recall who in the village knew how to process tea or had the necessary equipment. But for their small-scale operation, it shouldn’t be too expensive—

“Okay, Mom, you and Dad can arrange it.”

Just then, the phone rang. Song Sancheng answered and chatted for a while.

“Tan Tan, do you want to check out the beehives? They’re in Pine Tree Town.”

…

The bee seller was in Pine Tree Town.

Pine Tree Town was next to Clear Creek Town, not far from their village, Yunqiao. It only took twenty minutes to drive there.

Because of the abundant mountainous terrain, the local residents relied mainly on tea picking for income, and there were many flowering trees on the slopes.

Therefore, Pine Tree Town had a well-known beekeeping family.

Song Tan drove up the mountain road with Song Sancheng and Qiao Qiao. When they saw a large cardboard sign on the roadside with “Farmhouse Wild Honey” written in ink, they knew they had arrived.

The beekeeping family lived in a less orderly house because it was on the mountain road, and there was even a simple iron shed next to it.

On the hillside in front of the house, square wooden boxes were neatly arranged. In the sunlight, the fuzzy bodies of the bees vibrated, and the buzzing sound was very distinct.

The bees hovered low, but since the mountain’s temperature was a bit low and the fruit trees hadn’t blossomed much yet, they ended up gathering around a shallow water dish.

“Old Song, you’re here!”

A man with disheveled hair, wearing a black sweater, came out and greeted them warmly when he saw Song Tan and her family.

“Are these your son and daughter? They look great—so, you want bees? What kind do you want? I’ll show you!”

“But I don’t have Italian bees here, only Chinese bees, our local variety. They’re smaller. Each box has five frames, with about three thousand bees per frame… It’s tough keeping them alive through the winter!”

Beekeepers call the bees’ living quarters frames, where the bees’ nests are located, with hexagonal cells.

Generally, frames of the same size house similar numbers of bees. The boxes shouldn’t be too large or too small.

The beekeeper was straightforward, introducing everything before they even asked.

Song Tan nodded. “It’s okay, uncle. We want our local bees—how much honey can one box produce?”

The middle-aged man looked proud and happy. “Don’t underestimate our local bees. They’re diligent and more productive than Italian bees, and they aren’t picky. If there are plenty of flowers, one box can yield eighty pounds of honey.”

“If there aren’t many flowers, they might not even get enough food.”

He sighed, “In past winters, I used to drive south where there are more flowers and warmer weather. But in recent years, business has been tough, and we can’t travel around as much. I’ve been worrying all winter—see, I’m feeding them sugar water now; otherwise, they wouldn’t survive.”

“Old Song, we’re all neighbors, so I won’t hide anything from you. Bee prices are higher in the spring. I need six hundred yuan per box. If you genuinely want them, I’ll give them to you for 560. I’ve been feeding them sugar water, so there’s no honey yet.”

“But once there are flowers, they’ll adjust right away—you won’t regret buying them.”

Song Tan had checked online beforehand and found this price reasonable, so she looked at Song Sancheng.

Song Sancheng wasn’t knowledgeable about bees!

Thinking it over, he straightforwardly said, “We have fourteen acres of flower fields. How many should we buy? Also, how do we tell if the bees are good?”

The beekeeper thought for a moment. “Typically, three acres per box of bees should be fine. You could get six to seven pounds of honey per acre. Since there aren’t many flowers now and you lack experience, start with four boxes; three would work too.”

As for assessing the bees…

To their astonishment, he opened a beehive barehanded, without gloves, and pulled out a frame:

“See, these worker bees are hardworking.”

He then casually grabbed a handful of bees, letting them crawl and buzz in his palm, pointing out one large bee:

“Look, this is the queen bee. Isn’t she impressive?”

Qiao Qiao, eager, squatted nearby, reaching out his hand:

“Qiao Qiao wants to touch too…”

The beekeeper shivered and quickly put the bees back:

“You can’t touch them! Their stings hurt. Always wear a veil and gloves!”