Jiang Hua has raised more than 30 boxes of Chinese bees this year, and if Jiang Hua is the only one, he can only harvest about ten boxes of honey a day, about fifty or sixty catties. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

With Lin Zeng's joining, her speed is much faster.

In the process of collecting honey, the two occasionally chatted, and Lin Zeng gradually understood the hardships of beekeeping and honey collection in Jianghua.

Traditional beekeeping is an industry that depends more on the weather than planting.

It's mid-November, and the city of Qinghe, located in the subtropical region of the south, still maintains autumn temperatures, and most people wear a long-sleeved shirt with a coat over it to keep warm.

When there is a light snowfall, it is the time when the goosepaw firewood flowers are in full bloom on the mountain, and this very inconspicuous plant is the main source of winter honey.

Choose a particularly sunny day for honey collection, when the bees are in a good mood and have a relatively docile temperament. If it's a cloudy day, the bees will be very short-tempered and particularly aggressive. But even though today is a good autumn weather, Jiang Hua has also done a good job of protection, and when she took out the beehive frame, she was also stung several times by the annoyed little bee.

The time to harvest honey is only a few short weeks, and if there is rainy weather at this time, then the hard work of the year will be in vain.

Fortunately, the weather was very good this year, and the blue sky was clear for a long time, so that the honey in the hive was enough to be harvested.

Unlike some beekeepers who are eager for quick success, Jiang Hua must ensure that the honey in the hive is ripe enough to start harvesting.

There is no mature honey, it is the bees that collect nectar, and it is taken out after only 1-2 days of brewing, at this time the honey texture is very thin, and it has not been brewed, dehydrated, and converted by bees, and does not have the nutrients of honey in the true sense.

This kind of honey is also mechanically dehydrated and concentrated, which is called concentrated honey and processed honey. In the Chinese market, the vast majority of honey is concentrated honey.

Before harvesting the honey, Jiang Hua must ensure that the honey in the hive has been fully and repeatedly brewed and preserved by the bees with beeswax. This honey is recognized by bees as real honey, and after it is brewed, it is covered and eaten for the winter.

It is carefully brewed by bees, and the mature honey does not need to add any preservatives or any human substances, and still has a long shelf life, as long as it is filtered, it can be eaten directly.

This ripe honey has a longer harvest cycle. In just a few weeks, only two or three harvests can be made. Even because of the weather, it can only be harvested once or twice a year. The yield that can be obtained is very low.

Lin Zeng quickly shook the handle of the centrifugal barrel in his hand, and in the rapid rotation of the plate-like honeycomb, the honey that exuded a rich aroma was thrown out of the honeycomb and splashed onto the barrel wall of the stainless steel barrel, and went downstream, with more and more honey at the bottom of the barrel, and the smell of honey became more and more fragrant.

He took a deep breath, and there was a slight jerky hint of beeswax in the honey aroma, but it still had a refreshing natural flavor.

A piece of beehive was shaken, and Jiang Hua also scraped off the beeswax of a new piece of honeycomb cover.

"Is this edible?" Lin Zeng said with some greed as he looked at the inevitable honey on his hands.

"At this time, the taste of honey is not the best, put it in a clay pot, let it stand for a few months, the water evaporates, and the taste is sweeter and moister. If you want to taste it, I'll give you last year's honey. Jiang Hua gave advice very honestly, "There is gimbap that I prepared over there, as well as honey water." You can go and eat first. ”

"I'm going to make this piece right. Lin Zeng waved his hand unwillingly.

Because the honey harvest must begin after the sun comes out and end before the sun sets, there is not much time left for beekeepers to work in the near-winter season, and they have to be efficient and fast. So Jiang Hua prepared gimbap last night, so you can eat while working.

With Lin Zeng's help, Jiang Hua's efficiency has improved a lot, and the harvest was originally planned to be completed in two days, and more than 30 boxes of honey were harvested before the sun set.

"Wow!" Lin Zeng participated in the work of collecting honey for the first time, looking at the crystal honey in the bucket used to store honey, stirring with a wooden spoon, flowing slowly, this feeling was amazing, and his heart was full of a sense of accomplishment.

"About one hundred and fifty pounds. Jiang Hua has been raising bees for several years, so she doesn't seem too excited, but she is also happy. She and Lin Zeng worked together to carry the honey to the room. In the kitchen, there is a wooden shelf with a stretched gauze on the shelf, and a wooden barrel under the gauze that looks a bit like the sieve used to filter soy milk in a tofu factory.

Jiang Hua poured some of the harvested honey on the gauze, and dropped the crystal honey down the gap of the gauze and dripped into the barrel.

This step is to filter the debris in the honey.

Because the gauze is dense, the honey is very viscous and the speed of filtration is not fast.

"Are you going to sell this honey?" Lin Zeng asked curiously as he squatted next to the wooden barrel while eating bacon sushi that tasted quite good.

"Nope. Jiang Hua walked to the sink in the kitchen, turned on the faucet to clean the slimy honey in her hand, she shook her head and replied, "Even if it is natural and mature honey, the moisture content is still relatively large." When I am done, I pour it into a jar of clay and seal it in the cellar. After a year, honey is like wine, and in the process of standing, it will continue to be brewed, the water will evaporate, and the taste will be smoother, and it will be sold for sale. ”

There is only a short harvest period in a year, and there may be no harvest due to bad weather, and then it will be sealed and then sold.

"Then you only sell for 100 yuan a catty, and you can only earn 20,000 or 30,000 yuan after a year of busy work?" Lin Zeng shook his head, feeling that this business was not cost-effective, even if he set up a stall to sell barbecue, it was better than this drought and flood to ensure income.

"So, it's just a side hustle for me. If you make a living out of this, it's going to be very difficult. Jiang Hua said with a smile, "100 yuan per catty, or the price of these two years, a few years ago, it was only 50 yuan per catty, and when I learned beekeeping, it was only 20 or 30 yuan per catty." Life is not easy. ”

"Why don't you raise the price? Foreign high-quality honey can be as high as three or four hundred yuan per catty. Lin Zeng asked puzzled.

"Bad money drives out good money," Jiang Hua thought for a while, and while taking out the bucket of rice from the cabinet and washing rice for cooking, he answered Lin Zeng's confusion, "Looking at it, the market price is like this, and if you raise the price rashly, the result is that you will be able to get a lot of money." Moreover, in the Chinese honey market, concentrated honey is labeled as natural honey, and the eaters do not even have the concept of mature honey and concentrated honey, which is difficult to compare with foreign countries. ”

Lin Zeng was thoughtful, he thought about it, and took out the honey spirit aroma lavender seeds he had prepared.

"Last time, I said that I would give you seeds of plants suitable for growing on the farm, and here are a thousand seeds. I guess this is the best variety for you to grow. (To be continued.) )