Chapter 4 Breaking out of the cocoon
As the name suggests, this reagent is used to induce biological mutations.
What is mutation?
Simply put, it is a change in biological traits.
And it has to be a genetic trait that can be inherited.
Some mutations are beneficial to organisms. This is called evolution, but the probability is very low.
The mutation is likely to be meaningless or even harmful, and sudden death on the spot is not impossible.
Hua Mi came up with a bold idea.
This mutagenic agent can be used.
Of course it wasn't for his own use, but he wasn't that worried about it.
So many bees, aren’t they ready-made experimental subjects?
Bees are small, and each bee needs a small dose of medicine. This half bottle of mutagen is definitely enough in a short time.
As a beekeeper, the temptation to breed new and better bee species is great for him.
And this is a magical world where anything is possible.
Not to mention breeding highly productive bees, it would not be surprising even to breed bees that can teleport.
If you still stick to your own ruts and don't dare to let go, you will simply miss this opportunity.
"Try some worker bees to test the water first."
The number of worker bees is the largest in the entire bee colony, accounting for more than 99%. They are the least valuable. It doesn't hurt if dozens or even hundreds of them die.
Hua Mi selected 50 worker bees with strong vitality to keep, and let the rest continue to collect honey.
He picked up the mutagen bottle, pulled out the stopper with a pop, and sniffed it with the fan method. There was no special smell, just like boiled water.
"Isn't it expired?"
Hua Mi poured a little on the wooden board of the shelf and controlled 50 bees to surround them and suck.
The pool of reagents was quickly absorbed.
After waiting for about 5 minutes, Hua Mi clearly sensed that these 50 bees were abnormal to varying degrees, and it seemed that there was a violent force in their bodies that was ready to go out.
This is very similar to the state of bees when their larvae are about to emerge from their cocoons, thus stimulating their instinct to return to the nest and emerge from their cocoons.
Hua Mi did not intervene and allowed them to fly back to the beehive and secrete wax to seal themselves in the hive.
Generally speaking, this happens only once in a bee's life, when the larvae emerge from the cocoon and emerge into bees.
Now the adult stage is turning into a cocoon. I wonder what it will look like when it emerges from the cocoon?
All that can be done is to wait.
The sky gradually darkened, and it was already dusk in the blink of an eye.
In the forest, the sky gets dark quickly due to the trees blocking the view.
To put it bluntly, bees rely on light intensity to regulate their activities, regardless of whether it is off-duty time or not, so places like New Zealand with relatively long light hours are suitable for beekeeping.
Swarms of bees have begun to fly back to their hives.
Hua Mi was also very tired and was ready to go back to rest.
He is considering moving the hives back.
It was too troublesome to go back and forth, and he checked the area and found that there was indeed no sign of animal activity. There should be no problem placing the beehive here. Besides, bees are not a species that can be exploited by others. They will take measures to deal with danger.
Hua Mi then just moved the beehive into the wooden house, took her notebook, and traveled back to her flower field.
It's completely dark here.
Huayu Town is different from those big cities. There is not much nightlife and it will be very quiet once night falls.
Hua Mi simply ate something, went to an online survival store to buy daggers, first aid kits, compressed biscuits and other adventure-specific supplies, and then found another store to buy a compound bow.
Compound bows are not controlled items and can be purchased at will.
After the equipment arrives and everything is arranged, he plans to go out and explore.
You can't just press the moonflower and pluck it hard. The flowering period will eventually end. Who knows how long the water moon will last. We need to find new nectar flowers to ensure uninterrupted honey production.
Having this alchemy notebook as a reference book will be of great help to him in finding new honey source flowers.
In the future, if conditions permit, we can build a greenhouse, which can eliminate the restrictions on flowers caused by changes in the external environment to a certain extent, but it is obvious that such conditions are not yet available.
I was really tired today. Hua Mi lay on the bed and read my notes for a while, then fell asleep with her head tilted. I slept until about nine o'clock the next morning before waking up.
Thinking about the beehive and the 50 cocooned worker bees, Hua Mi didn't have the heart to eat properly. He took out a pack of instant noodles and soaked them in it. He got up and opened the door to ventilate the room.
The front yard is of course much smaller than the flower field at the back, but it is very clean and unique.
This is his family's ancestral home. Although it is a bit old, it has good feng shui. It is backed by a flat, fertile land, and further away is a mountainous area. There is also an artificial pond, which is very suitable for planting and beekeeping, so I just used it. Beekeeping sites and honey processing plants.
Beekeeping, honey making, distribution, one-stop service.
When his business was at its peak, he owned more than a hundred beehives and planted five or six kinds of nectar flowers with different flowering periods in his flower fields. I was a little tired, but I was able to maximize my output, and that period of time was very profitable.
Later, maybe God was afraid that he would be tired and cut off his fortune, leaving him idle at home. His business was getting worse day by day, and now he only has thirty boxes left.
In the past, Huayu Town was a feng shui treasure for beekeeping, but in the current environment, it no longer has any advantages, and its reputation has plummeted.
The era of Huayu Town has come to an end, this is undeniable.
However, the new era does not necessarily need to be ushered in by industrialized bee companies.
After a few minutes of eating the instant noodles and making a cup of honey water, Hua Mi couldn't wait to walk into the flower field, open a wormhole and travel to another world.
It's still dark in the other world.
There is a sea of moonflowers in the backyard, emitting a bright silver light, like a crescent moon. Dots of silver light points rose from the sea of flowers and disappeared a few meters high in the sky.
A huge "moon" hangs in the night sky, exuding a bright brilliance. It looks at least ten times the size of the earth's satellite.
The sea of flowers on the ground complement each other, which is breathtaking.
"This is nature..."
Hua Mi looked at the full moon dreamily.
He could look at such beautiful scenery all day long.
The moon slowly sets, and the sky on the other side appears fish-belly white, and soon the sun rises.
The sun here is similar to that of the earth, and the temperature and brightness feel more suitable for human habitation.
The industrious little bees flew out of the beehives one after another and swarmed towards the sea of flowers.
The familiar hum reassured him.
Experienced beekeepers can judge the strength of a colony just by listening to the sounds.
His swarm of bees is obviously stronger than yesterday. After a little exploration, he can feel that their vitality has generally increased, which is simply due to the influence of the environment and the taste of high-quality nectar.
What concerned him the most were the 50 cocooned worker bees.
As the sky grows brighter, they begin to emerge from their cocoons.
However, only 34 of the worker bees tried to break out of the cocoon, and the remaining 16 were motionless, completely unconscious, and obviously dead.
"The mortality rate is a bit high."
The 34 worker bees that were still alive began to emerge from their cocoons one after another.
The first one flew out staggeringly and plunged to the ground, but could not fly again. If you look closely, its wings were deformed.
The second one had extremely strong vitality and was extremely aggressive. It killed several bees without paying attention. Hua Mi found it and dealt with it promptly.
The third one had a deformed mouthpart and lost its ability to collect nectar.
The fourth one was blind...
In fact, half of the 34 living worker bees lost their vitality during the process of breaking out of the cocoon, and they were suffocated to death inside without even climbing out.
Hua Mi didn't think it was necessary to help them come out. They were so weak that their cocoons couldn't be broken. It was obvious that their evolution had failed.
"It's not like there are no beneficial mutations. There's still a guarantee for drawing cards."
He didn't feel sorry for the 50 worker bees. For a bee colony, these 50 worker bees were a bearable loss.
Just a little disappointed.
It seems that even in the magical world, the cultivation of new bee species is not as simple as imagined.
At this moment, a bee that had just emerged from its cocoon caught his attention.
(End of chapter)