I See through Everything

「November 14th, early in the morning.」

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the wild grass by the roadside was still covered in dew.

Jiang Miao and Shuya arrived at Yandun Mountain Farm, located behind the Yandun Mountain Feed Factory. It was also the site of the Durian Plantation’s terraced fields.

After more than a month of renovations, two construction crews had managed to complete the development of nearly 120 acres of high-standard terraced fields at Yandun Mountain Farm.

These newly completed terraced fields were all planted with floss silk trees.

Shuya, wearing a baseball cap, breathed in the fresh morning air. "Can these floss silk trees be grafted yet?"

"Not yet. We have to wait until February of next year."

Jiang Miao squatted down, looking at the lush Purple Alfalfa at his feet. The initial 0.8-acre plot of Purple Alfalfa he’d cultivated had already produced three harvests of seeds, for a total of about 600 kilograms.

Sowing Purple Alfalfa via broadcasting requires about twelve kilograms of seed per acre. In other words, his 600 kilograms of seeds were only enough to plant about fifty acres.

Fortunately, through laboratory tissue cultivation, they could produce hundreds of thousands of Purple Alfalfa seedlings each month. They could also propagate them from cuttings. Moreover, once the next fifty acres of Purple Alfalfa were harvested, they could obtain another 12,000 kilograms of seeds.

In the climate of the Lingnan Region, Purple Alfalfa could flower and produce seeds twice a year in an open environment.

In about a year, they would be self-sufficient in seeds.

Shuya squatted down too, looking at the alfalfa that had been growing for over a month. "So this is the new variety of Purple Alfalfa you bred?"

"Yes. This variety is relatively shade-tolerant. Even in this undergrowth environment, the growth cycle can be shortened to 100 days. With full sun, it only needs about 85 days before it can be harvested. And with sufficient light, heat, water, and fertilizer, this Purple Alfalfa can flower and produce seeds three times a year. Under the trees, it’ll probably be about twice."

"That’s not bad at all. But what do you plan to do with all this alfalfa? Use it for feed?" Shuya plucked a handful of tender Purple Alfalfa leaves, planning to take them back and taste them.

Jiang Miao smiled and nodded. "It can be used for feed. After all, when this variety of Purple Alfalfa is made into hay, its crude protein content is as high as 24%. It’s considered a high-quality variety even among other Purple Alfalfa."

"You didn’t bring me all the way out here today just to go for a hike, did you?" Shuya asked curiously.

"Don’t you think all this Purple Alfalfa covering the mountainside is beautiful?"

"Spit it out." Shuya paid him no mind, busying herself with picking the tender leaves.

Jiang Miao chuckled and shook his head. "I brought you here to relax, and also to check on the bees."

"Bees?" Shuya stood up and noticed that a small, square niche had been carved into a nearby earthen bank. A beehive was placed inside. She moved closer for a look. "Why are these bees so small?"

"They’re a native species."

"Oh, so they’re Chinese honey bees. I heard not many people raise them anymore. Why is that?"

Jiang Miao explained, "Mainly because Chinese bee colonies tend to be weaker and are prone to swarming. During major nectar flows, their honey production is less efficient than Italian bees, and they’re also more likely to be aggressive."

"Then why raise Chinese bees?"

"They have their disadvantages, but they also have advantages. Chinese bees are excellent at gathering from scattered, minor nectar sources in the surrounding area. They’re also highly adaptable to the domestic environment and are immune to varroa mites."

’Besides, I have a way to solve their weaknesses of small colony size and tendency to swarm. If I can grow the colonies, their honey-gathering efficiency will naturally increase.’

His solution was to periodically feed the Chinese bees a specially formulated artificial nectar. This would suppress the swarming instinct that had evolved in their genes as a survival mechanism.

At its core, the swarming instinct driven by their genetics is a survival trait meant to ensure the continuation of the species.

By suppressing this trait for a dozen or so consecutive generations, their genes would readjust, making them less and less inclined to swarm and eventually forming an entirely new strain of Chinese bees.

Currently, the fifty acres of Purple Alfalfa at Yandun Mountain Farm were beginning to blossom, with an expected flowering period of about two months.

Combined with the nectar from surrounding wildflowers, the 300 hives of Chinese bees placed here could produce over ten thousand kilograms of honey in two months.

A month ago, Jiang Miao had already instructed Lü Weibin to establish a honey production office to manage the bee colonies. The Chinese bees themselves had been purchased this month from a professional apiary within the province.

The reason for establishing the honey production office was the company’s investment in a Durian Plantation of over 8,200 acres in Shanmei. This meant they could also plant over 6,600 acres of Purple Alfalfa there.

When you added in the clover he planned to intercrop, plus the durian trees themselves, all these plants would create a massive nectar flow. He couldn’t let all that nectar go to waste.

After all, by adjusting the flowering periods, the 6,600-plus acres of Purple Alfalfa and clover, combined with the durian trees and surrounding wild flora, would be enough to support 10,000 hives.

Meanwhile, the Gannan Branch’s tea-oil camellia plantation would also be planted with Purple Alfalfa and clover, allowing them to raise bees there as well.

However, tea-oil camellia nectar is toxic to bees, especially Italian bees, which are almost completely unable to gather it. Chinese bees have some resistance, but the resulting honey can cause allergic reactions and mild poisoning in humans. Therefore, they had to avoid the tea-oil camellia’s flowering season.

Fortunately, the tea-oil camellias bloomed from October to December each year. By simply adjusting the water and fertilizer, he could completely offset the flowering periods of the Purple Alfalfa and clover from that of the camellias, preventing the bees from mistakenly gathering their toxic nectar.

The Gannan Branch could support 40,000 hives. Combined with the 10,000 hives at the main site, that was a total of 50,000 hives. If planned well, under ideal conditions, they could produce 8,750 tons of honey a year.

This was one of the advantages of having an integrated industry chain.

Ordinary beekeepers would have a hard time finding such a vast, stable nectar source, let alone having the ability to regulate flowering times.

Jiang Miao inspected a dozen or so hives and found that his specially formulated nectar was indeed having a significant effect. The colonies of these little bees were noticeably larger, yet showed no obvious signs of swarming.

With unsuppressed Chinese bees, let alone gathering 10,000 hives in one area, even just a few dozen would trigger them to abscond.