Song Sancheng’s view on the weather was indeed correct.
Just as the three of them finished spreading the fertilizer on the tea garden, the spring rain began to fall. The father and daughter hurried back, and only Qiao Qiao was jumping for joy:
“It’s raining heavily!”
Fortunately, there were trees on the hillsides along the way, and the rain was not heavy at the beginning, so I didn't get too wet on the way home. Song Tan thought about the tea garden. It was given spiritual energy, so it would be inappropriate if it didn't grow vigorously, right
"Dad, I think the tea will be picked in a few days. We have to hire people from all over this year anyway, so one or two more won't make a difference."
"If there's no time to pick the tea leaves, hire someone else."
"Why do we need to hire someone?" Wu Lan felt that she had to keep an eye on her daughter because she didn't know how to spend money.
How much does tea cost per pound? How expensive is it to hire someone? At least 150 yuan a day.
Song Tan felt that her mother had not changed her mind yet!
"Mom, I can sell wild vegetables for twenty, and I can sell astragalus for twenty, so why do you think I can't sell a pound of tea for two thousand?"
Normally, a skilled worker would only produce three or four kilograms of Maojian tea a day from morning to night when the tea leaves are in full bloom.
Four pounds of tea leaves can produce one pound of dry tea, and one pound of dry tea only sells for one or two hundred yuan, which is definitely not cost-effective.
But the problem is that the price is different now.
The best time for spring tea is only about twenty days, and it will be even less popular after Qingming Festival, so of course we have to hurry up.
Wulan thought about it. Although she had confidence in her daughter, she had no confidence in the local tea leaves that could be sold at 2,000 yuan per kilogram. But she had just agreed to listen to her daughter in terms of farm work...
She hesitated: "Then there is no need to hire anyone. Your father, your grandparents and I can help. We only have one tea garden, which is enough."
Song Tan began to count on his fingers: "When picking tea leaves, you have to worry about breeding and raising seedlings, right? There must be someone to take care of the chickens, ducks, geese and pigs at home, right? Don't you need to take care of the black fungus over in the chestnut forest? The asparagus needs to be cleaned up every day, right?"
"Mom, I feel like we don't have enough family now. If you all go to pick tea leaves, then I have to learn the art of clones first."
With the current concentration of spiritual energy, Song Tan felt that he should be able to master this move after practicing for a few decades.
The premise is not to scare others.
Ulan: …
She was speechless.
Then I think the money I earned from selling vegetables this year should be enough to cover my wages!
So I made up my mind:
"Okay, I'll find two skilled people in the village. Do we need to hire a tea maker? Your father hasn't done this job for many years. Don't mess up the tea."
Song Tan couldn't remember who in the village knew how to stir-fry tea, and who had a tea-frying machine. But his family's little job wasn't that expensive.
"Okay, Mom, you discuss the arrangements with my dad."
As he was talking, a phone call came in. Song Sancheng answered the phone and chatted with the person for a while:
"Tan Tan, do you want to go see the bees? They're over in Pine Tree Town."
…
The bee seller is in Pine Town.
Songshu Town is next to Qingxi Town and not too far from their Yunqiao Village. It only takes 20 minutes to drive there.
Because there are so many mountains here, the local residents rely on tea picking as their main source of income, so there are naturally many flowers and trees on the hillsides.
Therefore, there is a very famous beekeeping family in Songshu Town.
Song Tan drove Song Sancheng and Qiao Qiao up the mountain road. When they saw a large piece of cardboard on the side of the road with "Farmer's Honey" written on it in ink, they knew they had arrived.
Because this beekeeper's house is located on a mountain road, the house is not built as neatly as those on the roadside, and there is even a simple iron shed built next to it.
In the open space on the hillside in front of the door, square wooden boxes were placed in a regular pattern. In the sunlight, the hairy bodies of bees vibrated, and the buzzing sound was particularly obvious.
They kept circling in the low sky, but the temperature in the mountains was a little low, and so far few flowers on the fruit trees had bloomed. In the end, they could only lie in front of a shallow water basin.
"Old Song, you're here!"
A man with messy hair and a black sweater came out. Seeing Song Tan's family of three, he was very enthusiastic:
"This is your son or daughter, right? They are so good-looking. Come on, you want bees, right? What kind do you want? I'll show you!"
"But I don't have Italian bees here, all I have are Chinese bees, which are our native bees, and they are small. I have five combs in this box, and each comb has about 3,000 bees... It's not easy to raise them in the winter!"
Beekeepers call the place where the bees live a honeycomb, and on top of it is the beehive, which is a grid of hexagonal holes.
Generally speaking, the number of bees living in the same size of honeycomb is about the same. They are like this, a house that is too big will not work, and a house that is too small will not work either.
The other party was very honest. Before I said anything, he had already started introducing myself.
Song Tan nodded: "It's okay, uncle, I just want our native bees - how much honey can this box produce?"
Speaking of this, the middle-aged man's face was full of pride and smiles: "Don't look at our native bees as small, but they are hardworking, more capable than Italian bees, and not picky. If we spend a lot of money, this box can easily hold 80 kilograms."
"If there are not enough flowers, they probably won't have enough to eat."
Speaking of this, the beekeeper also sighed:
"In previous winters, I drove to the south, where there are more flowers and it's warmer. The market has been bad in the past two years, so I can't go anywhere. I've been worried all winter - you see, isn't this being fed with sugar water? Otherwise, it wouldn't survive."
"Old Song, we are from the same hometown, I won't hide it from you. The price of bees is higher in the spring. This box of bees costs 600 yuan. If you really want it, 560 yuan. I feed them sugar water, I won't hide it from you, but it's enough for them to live, no honey."
"But if they spend money, they can adjust right away - it's definitely worth it if they buy it."
Song Tan had checked online before and thought the price should be fair, so he decided to look at Song Sancheng.
Song Sancheng doesn’t understand bees either!
After thinking for a while, he said honestly: "I have 14 acres of flower fields. How many do you think are suitable to buy? Besides, how do you tell whether these bees are good or bad?"
The beekeeper thought for a moment and said, "Normally, if there is one hive for every three mu of land, it should be no problem for one mu of land to produce six or seven kilograms of honey. There are few flowers now, and you don't have much experience, so just take four hives, or three will be fine."
As for whether bees are good or bad...
As the three members of the family stared in astonishment, the other party, without even wearing gloves, opened the beehive with a pair of ruthless bare hands without fear and directly pulled out a honeycomb:
"Look, this worker bee is very hardworking."
As he spoke, he grabbed a handful from the other side. A dozen hairy bees crawled around in his palm, flapping their wings and flying low. Among them, a large one stood out:
"Look, this is the queen bee. Isn't she pretty?"
Qiao Qiao squatted beside him with envy in her eyes, and stretched out her hand eagerly:
"Qiao Qiao also wants to touch it..."
The beekeeper was startled and quickly put the bees back:
"You can't touch it! The sting is very painful, you should always wear a head net and gloves!"