Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 90

“It’s not like that,” Song Tan said confidently. “Remember, we bought these bees from the beekeeping uncle. They work for us.”

“This honey is made from the pollen collected from our fields. I’ll leave some for them to feed their young, and we’ll take the rest.”

“It’s just like how you work for the family, and I give you a salary,” she explained.

Qiao Qiao, understanding only partially, nodded and carefully used the brush to gently sweep away the bees.

He moved slowly and softly. Song Tan held the honeycomb frame and didn’t rush him. After about ten minutes, the bees were brushed away, leaving a flat, multicolored honeycomb.

Placing the honeycomb on the basin, Song Tan took the knife and showed Qiao Qiao, “Look, the whitish part here is where the bee larvae are hatching.”

“They leave a lot of honey for their young. We won’t touch this part. We’ll cut the other half without the larvae.”

“You asked why we say ‘cutting honey’? It’s because we first use a knife to slice off the top layer of white beeswax.”

“Keep the knife flat, don’t use too much force, and cut gently, bit by bit.”

Song Tan demonstrated with quick and steady hands but still went slowly for Qiao Qiao’s sake.

When the entire top layer was removed, honey began to seep out without the beeswax cover.

She turned the honeycomb over, “Now, you try the other half, Qiao Qiao.”

Qiao Qiao hesitated, “I’m afraid I’ll cut the larvae.”

This was a real concern. Even experienced beekeepers sometimes accidentally cut the larvae.

Song Tan, abandoning her usual gentle approach, said seriously, “But if you don’t do it, we can’t harvest honey, and the bees won’t have any economic value, making keeping them pointless.”

“Over time, without care, the bees might die in the winter cold. But if you’re brave and careful, you might make mistakes and feel sad at first, but you’ll get better with practice.”

Qiao Qiao seemed to understand the general idea. He stood there for a while, then finally gripped the knife.

Song Tan sighed in relief.

She knew she would live longer than Qiao Qiao, but her parents didn’t. They didn’t want this responsibility on their daughter. If Qiao Qiao could learn to sustain himself by beekeeping, they would be very happy.

Qiao Qiao took twenty minutes to carefully cut the beeswax from one side of the honeycomb.

Song Tan then placed the honeycomb into the honey extractor.

The extractor had two panels inside to hold the honeycomb like files, one on each side. Turning the crank would spin the honeycomb, extracting the honey through centrifugal force.

It worked like a washing machine spin cycle.

Each hive had five frames, and they had five hives in total.

Qiao Qiao became more adept, reducing his time from thirty minutes per side to ten minutes. His progress was impressive for one afternoon.

However, by the time he got proficient, it was almost dark.

They tidied the hives, and Qiao Qiao carried the basin while Song Tan carried the heavy bucket of honey down the mountain.

By the time they reached home, it was nearly dark, and Wu Lan was almost done with dinner. Seeing Song Tan with a bucket, Wu Lan joked, “I didn’t think honey would come out so soon. Doesn’t it take a few days to make?”

But turning her head, she saw the bucket was already quite full.

“Oh my!” Wu Lan exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me we had so much honey? We haven’t even washed the jars yet.”

She hurriedly set a pot of water to boil and tossed in the glass jars to sterilize them.

Qiao Qiao carefully covered the honey bucket with a mesh cloth and proudly declared, “I harvested the honey today!”

“Oh, Qiao Qiao, you’re amazing!” Wu Lan praised absentmindedly, thinking he had just cranked the handle.

Normally, Qiao Qiao might not notice the half-hearted praise, but today, he had worked so hard for several hours.

His back hurt, and his hands were sore.

Feeling wronged, he said, “Mom, I did everything.”

Wu Lan was taken aback.

Song Tan quickly explained, “Yes, from handling the frames to cutting the beeswax and spinning the honey, Qiao Qiao did it all. I just helped.”

“Really?” Wu Lan was stunned.

“Yes, Qiao Qiao can do it all by himself now,” Song Tan said matter-of-factly.

A six-year-old could understand many things, especially a child like Qiao Qiao, who had learned to control his body and strength well.

Wu Lan’s eyes reddened with pride. She looked at the honey bucket, beaming with joy, “Wonderful! Qiao Qiao, you’re amazing!”

Then she called out loudly, “Old Song! Come see, your son has harvested honey!”

She smiled, “The first jar will be for me to try.”

Qiao Qiao, proud and happy, said, “Okay! The rest can be sold by Sister to raise more bees.”

Song Sancheng came running out of the house. After hearing the process and watching Qiao Qiao animatedly explain, his nose tingled with pride.

Looking at Song Tan, he said, “You two siblings working well together is the best thing ever.”

Song Tan feared they might cry, so she quickly reminded, “Mom, are the jars ready?”