Chapter 124: Honeycomb
Soeun-ah, shall we go work with Dad?
What?
By rubbing flowers with flowers.
Why?
I was daydreaming about playing with Soeun while working when a strange attack suddenly hit me.
But I quickly calmed myself and explained.
Look at those fruits like melons and tomatoes? They come from the plants, right? But for the fruit to grow, you need to rub the flowers with flowers. Soeun has Mom and Dad, just like the fruit has Mom and Dad.
Wow! I want to! Me too!
Soeun jumped excitedly at my words, looking like she was about to run out at any moment.
I put on the gloves that fit my hand and the ones that fit Soeun's hand and went out to the garden.
The garden was filled with the flowers of various fruits blooming profusely. Thinking about those flowers turning into fruits made me feel warm inside.
Here, Soeun. Hold this, and rub it on other flowers like this. But Soeun, you should only rub on the melon flowers. Got it?
I picked a melon flower and handed it to Soeun. When I demonstrated by tapping other flowers with it, Soeun quickly started following.
Hee hee, delicious melons!
Soeun, who likes to eat the flesh of melons by removing the seeds and getting the pulp messy, was happily laughing while pollinating the melon flowers.
I did the same as Soeun, picking a flower and rubbing it on various flowers. Since it was just light touches, it wasn't difficult.
But because it was at a lower position, my waist started to hurt a little.
Appa. This one!
What? What... Aah! Soeun, don't move! If a bee stings you, it hurts, so be careful.
I saw two bees on the flower Soeun was holding and jumped in surprise. Even if they were bees, getting stung would hurt.
Soeun looked at me with wide eyes, as if asking why.
But Soeun is a good listener. When I told her not to move, she rolled her eyes but stayed still without moving.
I took the flower from Soeun's hand and was about to throw it away.
But when I looked closely at the bees on the flower, something felt off.
They weren't collecting pollen, but staring at me strangely, frozen in the act of collecting pollen.
What? Do they understand me too?
I tilted my head at the bees staring at me without moving. They tilted their bodies slightly, following my gesture.
Here, come here.
Buzz!
Instead of the hand holding the flower, I extended the other hand, and two bees landed there.
Wow! Appa, me too! Me too!
Soeun, who had forgotten the instruction to stay still, clung to me, begging to see the bees.
Since the bees were influenced by me, I cautiously showed her the bees, along with a warning that they might sting.
Are these honeybees?
Yeah. They collect pollen from flowers and turn it into honey. So they're called honeybees because they make honey.
Honey!
Soeun, who loves sweet things, smacked her lips at the word honey. I smiled and patted her head.
Should I ask them for some honey?
Yeah!
Soeun nodded her head so vigorously that her hair swayed.
I looked at the bees, but their gazes were fixed on Soeun.
And I could instinctively feel their conversation, which was not words but pheromones. From the wing fluttering and butt twitching, I could understand the meaning.
'New queen! Old queen, purge!'
No!
I stopped the bees that were about to fly away. Otherwise, an entire colony might disappear.
I grabbed the bees that couldn't fly and fixed their weird thoughts.
I told Soeun that she is not a queen, and they must never purge the old queen.
'Ashamed. New queen.'
Haa...
The bees that were ashamed because Soeun wasn't the new queen couldn't take their eyes off her.
Instead, I'll let you see Soeun as much as you want. Since Soeun likes honey, you can take a little honey. How about it?
'Soeun! We will serve!'
They weren't making her queen, but since Soeun was good, they agreed and flew away somewhere.
Are the bees gone?
Probably went home. To get honey, right?
Honey!
Soeun jumped excitedly at the thought of honey. But when the bees returned, instead of honey, something else was on them.
...Instead of honey, they brought the hive.
Two bees returned, and hundreds came back, carrying their hives with difficulty.
A black colony of bees flew in, carrying a honeycomb bigger than Soeun's head.
Did we raise these bees?
...Yeah. It turned out that way.
Hee hee! Lots of honey!
Soeun laughed brightly at the prospect of eating honey.
Kyaak! Bees!
I sighed and ran to Noona who was startled by the bees trying to settle on the outer wall of our house. I didn't want this.
Suhwan! Bees! Should I call 119? What to do! Were there animals that catch bees at the zoo? What now?
First, calm down.
I hugged Noona who was pointing at the place where the hive was starting to settle and patted her lightly.
Suhwan, did you plan to raise those bees too?
...Somehow it happened that way.
What did you do to make bees move in with the whole hive...
Noona sighed deeply and looked at the honeycomb stuck to the outer wall. But since she knew that if it's an animal I raise, it won't harm people, she calmed down quickly.
Why did you bring bees all of a sudden? You never thought of raising insects before.
I never thought of raising them either. I was going to use the nearby ones a bit. I didn't think they would take the whole hive.
It was sincere. Even if I was a druid, I didn't expect bees to take the whole hive.
Originally, my plan was to use bees a bit away to pollinate crops and get a little honey. I didn't plan to live with them.
But getting natural honey isn't bad, right?
Noona, after confirming safety, started to be interested in honey rather than bees like Soeun. I felt that Noona also resembled me a lot.
But, is it okay for Soeun to do that?
Then, Noona pointed at the honeycomb on the outer wall. There, Soeun was poking her finger into the entrance of the honeycomb.
Aah! Soeun!
I rushed over and pulled out Soeun's finger. Because even if bees like Soeun, I couldn't let her break the hive.
But when I saw Soeun's finger pulled out, I couldn't close my mouth.
Sticky!
Soeun's finger was covered with bright yellow honey.
Looking at the entrance of the honeycomb, many bees were busily bringing honey. It seemed they were bringing the stored honey and smearing it on Soeun's finger.
'Soeun, we want honey! Honey, serve!'
The buzzing sounded like conversation from inside.
Haa...
Relieved that Soeun was safe, I grabbed Soeun who was sucking her finger tasting the honey.
Soeun, that's not good. What if someone puts a big thing in the house where Soeun is and blocks the entrance? Soeun did wrong?
Uu... I don't know.
Then, should I apologize to the bees?
Yeah! Sorry!
Soeun stroked the honeycomb part and apologized. The bees, as if okay, were adding more honey to Soeun's finger.
Appa too, honey?
Dad is fine. Give it to Mom.
I smiled at the short finger smeared with honey as if to share, and sent Soeun to Noona.
Then, I turned my attention to the honeycomb and looked at one bee peeking its head into the entrance. It seemed larger than other bees, so probably the queen bee.
I extended my finger slightly, and the queen bee cautiously climbed on. I patted its head lightly. Although the queen bee was a bit big, since it's a small bee originally, there was no special feeling.
Sorry, can you make a small hive somewhere low? Put a little honey there. Then Soeun won't poke her finger into the house like now.
'Positive. Possible.'
The queen bee twitched its belly and shook its wings as soon as it heard my words. Then, the worker bees came out in a swarm and started building the hive where I pointed.
The worker bees quickly made the hive by spitting out wax. Then they started filling it with honey. Moreover, they made the entrance wide for easy access.
Thank you.
As I gently stroked it with my finger, the queen bee trembled happily. But soon it got off my hand and went back into the hive.
The bee had a strangely cute side, and a bit of regret came to me.
I took out a banana from the fruits in the house and placed it near the hive. Because in addition to moving the hive, I made a small hive to store honey, so they must be tired.
Although sugar water is a good choice, I chose banana because I heard bees eat bananas too.
Wow! Appa, the bees are eating bananas!
Soeun, who seemed to have shared honey with Noona, came to my side and admired the bees eating the banana.
And the bees that successfully settled in our house started having a very good influence.
The bees that settled and started collecting honey first targeted the garden around the house. Thanks to the diligent pollen collectors, the melon fruits were hanging abundantly.
Also, thanks to the bees that roamed the entire zoo, carrying pollen, the entire zoo had flowers blooming abundantly.
Many people came just to see the animals, but people started coming to see the flowers.
Moreover, the honey made by the bees that settled in our house was several times sweeter and tastier than store-bought honey, so our family was satisfied enough in taste.