Hua Mi couldn't believe it; he had woken up in the middle of the night! The bees had already returned to their hives, and the forest was silent except for the sound of insects chirping. It was incredibly peaceful.
Lazily reclining on his chair, Hua Mi felt his energy was still a bit scattered, and his stomach rumbled hungrily. He had no desire to move.
"Awoo!!!"
A wolf-like howl echoed from deep within the forest, jolting Hua Mi to his feet. His senses immediately sharpened.
Under the moonlight, he hurriedly moved the beehive back into the wooden cabin. He checked the ten forest swift bees that had been injected with the forest swift bee template; they had not yet hatched.
"It seems slower than the first forest swift bee, but I'll deal with it tomorrow," Hua Mi thought.
Back in the cabin, Hua Mi enjoyed his meal while perusing the alchemical notes. The writing was elegant, and the illustrations were detailed, making it a comfortable read and well-suited to his taste.
He focused on the section describing various flowers. Although he couldn't accurately determine if they were nectar-producing flowers just by the descriptions, he could make a rough estimate based on the illustrations and his experience.
However, the names of the places mentioned in the notes gave him a headache.
"Cloud Peak Plateau, Chaotic Sea, Shadowy Realm, Storm Courtyard, Giant Ruins... What kind of places are these?" Hua Mi was still relatively ignorant about this new world, only knowing that the area his cabin was located in was called the Black Witch's Forest, abbreviated as the Black Forest.
"If only I had a map," he sighed. However, since there were already dozens of types of flowers listed just within the Black Forest, he didn't need to venture too far for his initial exploration. Whether he would have the chance to leave the forest was a different matter altogether.
The time division in this new world was entirely different from Earth's. According to the notes, after the month of Watersurge came Watersleep, and during Watersleep, the Moon Dream Flowers would gradually wither. Although the flowers wouldn't wither all at once, the honey flow period would likely end.
Having flowers didn't necessarily mean having honey. The flowering period didn't equal the honey flow period, which was much shorter and usually occurred during the peak bloom of the flowers.
For a beekeeper like Hua Mi, chasing honey was an urgent matter. Missing out meant missing out, with no way to recover.
"According to the notes, the Black Forest has several types of flowers that bloom during Watersleep. I need to plan my honey collection accordingly. But the upcoming 'Ice Age' is going to be challenging."
The Ice Age, as the name implied, was likely to be as cold and desolate as winter on Earth. The exact temperature remained unknown, but if it was too low, he wouldn't be able to keep bees outdoors. He would need to create a temperature-controlled environment for them.
Honeybees could generate heat in their hives to withstand the cold and ensure their survival during the winter. The Chinese bees, in particular, had a strong resistance to harsh conditions compared to the Italian bees, but there was a limit to how cold they could endure. Beekeepers generally didn't let the temperature drop below -2°C.
Another concern was the availability of nectar-producing flowers. Scouring the notes, he found only one type of flower that bloomed during the Ice Age, called the "Crystal Shard Flower." The sketch made it look angular and icy, similar to an ice sculpture. The notes emphasized that it was a "rare" flower, demanding high environmental conditions for growth, with only a few specimens in the vast forest. Furthermore, it was not confirmed to be a nectar-producing flower.
"I need to move the construction of the greenhouse up on my agenda. With a greenhouse, I can provide a stable winter environment for the bees and cultivate rare flowers that require specific conditions. The earlier I build it, the greater the benefits."
The space wasn't a problem, though it would be a bit of a hassle to solve. The real issue was the construction cost, which was giving him a headache.
The next day, after a simple breakfast and some preparations, Hua Mi crossed over into the other world. It was just before dawn, a time when nature held its breath during the transition between night and day. The usual sounds of insects and animals were silent, making it the quietest part of the day.
Hua Mi stacked his belongings on the cabin floor and sent his consciousness to check on the bee colonies. Everything was in order. The hive's honeycomb had already started to fill with honey, giving the cabin a faint, sweet fragrance. Since he hadn't yet started wax production, the scent was more flowery, akin to the Moon Dream Flowers' delicate aroma.
"This is the first batch of Moon Dream Flower honey in two worlds," Hua Mi thought with a sense of accomplishment. Though it might be an exaggeration to call it a historical event, it was just the beginning. Even legends had humble beginnings.
He eagerly anticipated the moment the first batch of magic bee honey would be ready. He wondered if it would have any special effects compared to regular honey, besides the taste.
The ten forest swift bees had successfully completed their transformation. These were the first new bee species he had cultivated. Due to the influence of magic, the process wasn't as challenging as it seemed, but it was still quite fulfilling.
Hua Mi admired the forest swift bees for a while before adding them to the honey-gathering team.
Among the buzzing bees, it was easy to distinguish between the regular Chinese honeybees and the forest swift bees. The latter seemed to be playing at double speed compared to the former, making them stand out as the special forces of the bee world.
With these ten powerful new bee species supporting the honey collection, the efficiency increased significantly. "If I transform all 30 colonies into forest swift bees, the honey collection speed will double, and the estimated time will be halved," Hua Mi calculated.
However, he also needed to address the 100 experimental bees that had been injected with mutagen. As expected, after a night of incubation, they were ready to emerge from their cocoons.
Inspecting them, Hua Mi found that this time, only a dozen or so bees had died during the metamorphosis, a much better result than last time. "Time for the exciting 'blind box' moment," he thought.
Hua Mi couldn't help but rub his hands in excitement and focus on the hives, ignoring everything else. Finally, the first cocoon broke, and a bee emerged, its head first, followed by its entire body. It seemed lively but...
"Where are its antennae?" The bee had a bare head, devoid of antennae, which were essential for finding nectar sources. It was like sending a soldier into battle without a weapon – a failure.
No matter, it was only the first bee; there would be more opportunities. Hua Mi disposed of the failed bee and continued to watch eagerly.
The second bee emerged, and it looked promising. Its yellow markings had turned to a pale red, and all its organs appeared intact. Hua Mi sensed its vigorous life force.
Hua Mi controlled it to fly into the air, intending to observe its features more closely. Suddenly, the red color on its body grew more vibrant and seemed to emit a faint glow.
At the same time, Hua Mi felt a surge of energy building up within it. "Not good!" he thought.
With that thought, he instinctively took a step back. Puff! A burst of fire engulfed the bee, scorching Hua Mi's face even at a short distance.
"A self-destruct bee," Hua Mi exclaimed. "This one was too strong!" The evolution had failed once again, and there was no need to euthanize it this time.
Staring at the bee's charred remains on the ground, Hua Mi's mood was complicated. "Red-hot, fiery red... well, this is just the second one, there will be plenty more chances," he reassured himself.
He adjusted his mindset and prayed for the next bees. The third bee was another failure, followed by a fourth bee with horrifying deformities. Almost half of the bees had died during their metamorphosis, leaving only the unlucky ones.
As the first rays of dawn filtered through the forest, the last mutated bee emerged from its cocoon. Hua Mi could tell from its damaged wings and inability to fly that this one had also failed. "It's as if I've been slapped in the face, even my underwear is gone!" he muttered, frustrated.
"All 100 without a single guaranteed success! It's so damn unfair!" Hua Mi complained. "If this were a game, the developers would be berated by the players."
However, he had no intention of giving up. The experiment had to continue. Without dreams, what separated him from a sloth? Besides, this rare opportunity wasn't something to squander.
Historical trends showed that primitive accumulation was bloody and brutal. The most crucial phase of breeding new bee species was the initial accumulation, and he had no choice but to use the lives of these small bees for that purpose.
The good news was that he had plenty of samples. When he had more mutated bee species, he could experiment with more scientific and efficient hybridizations.
"Besides, I might discover new methods of evolution in the future. After all, this is a world of magic, where anything is possible." Hua Mi concluded.
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