A Beekeeper in a Magical World

Chapter 4: Breaking the Cocoon

At first glance, this reagent seemed to be used to induce biological mutations.

"What is a mutation?"

In simple terms, it's a change in biological traits.

And it has to be on a genetic level, inheritable traits.

Some mutations are beneficial for organisms, which is called evolution, but the probability is very low.

Most mutations are likely meaningless or even harmful, and sudden death is not impossible.

Hua Mi had a daring idea.

This mutation inducer could be used.

Of course, not for himself; he wasn't that reckless.

With so many bees around, weren't they readily available test subjects?

Bees are small, and each one probably needs only a small dose of the reagent. Half a bottle of mutation inducer would definitely be enough for a short period of time.

As a beekeeper, the temptation to breed superior new bee species was strong for him.

Moreover, this was the magical world, where everything was possible.

Don't just stick to the old ways and be afraid to try something new; that would be a waste of this opportunity.

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"Let's test it on some worker bees first."

The worker bees made up the majority of the hive, over 99%, and they weren't very valuable. He wouldn't mind losing a few dozen or even a hundred of them.

Hua Mi selected 50 healthy worker bees and left the rest to continue foraging.

He picked up the bottle of mutation inducer and removed the cork with a pop. He smelled it and found that it had no special scent, just like plain water.

"I hope it hasn't expired."

Hua Mi poured some onto a wooden board and watched as 50 bees gathered around to sip it.

The reagent was quickly absorbed, and after about 5 minutes, Hua Mi could clearly sense that these 50 bees were exhibiting varying degrees of abnormality. It seemed like a wild power was building up inside them, ready to burst forth.

This was similar to the state of bees when they were about to break out of their cocoons during their larval stage, which triggered their instinct to return to the hive and cocoon themselves.

Hua Mi didn't interfere; he allowed them to fly back into the hive and seal themselves in the honeycomb cells with wax.

Normally, bees would only experience this once in their lifetime, breaking out of their cocoon during the pupal stage and becoming adult bees.

At the moment, in the adult cocoon stage, he had no idea what they would look like when they emerged. All he could do was wait.

The day slowly turned to dusk, and before he knew it, it was twilight. In the forest, the dense trees made the evening come quickly.

Bees regulated their activities based on light intensity, not on fixed working hours, so this region with longer daylight hours was suitable for beekeeping.

The bee colony had already started returning to the hives, one by one. Hua Mi was exhausted and ready to go back.

He considered whether to move the hives. However, moving them back and forth was troublesome, and he didn't see any signs of animal activity in the area. Leaving the hives here should be safe. Besides, bees weren't easy prey; they had their defenses.

So, Hua Mi moved the hives into the wooden house, grabbed his notebook, and crossed over to his own flower field.

It was already completely dark here.

Hua Mi Town was different from those big cities; nightlife was scarce, and it became very quiet at night.

Hua Mi quickly had a simple meal, went online to buy some adventure equipment from a survival specialty store - a dagger, a first aid kit, compressed biscuits, and then purchased a compound bow from another shop.

Compound bows weren't regulated items and could be bought easily.

After all the equipment arrived and everything was prepared, he planned to go out exploring. He couldn't keep relying on the Moon Dream Flowers; their flowering season would end eventually. Who knew how long the Water Moon would last? He needed to find new sources of nectar to ensure uninterrupted honey production.

Having the alchemy notebook as a reference was a great help for finding new nectar sources. Later, he might be able to build a greenhouse to eliminate the impact of external environmental changes on the flowers. However, he didn't have the conditions for that yet.

Today had been exhausting, and Hua Mi lay on his bed, reading his notebook for a while before drifting off to sleep.

He slept all the way until the next morning, waking up around nine o'clock.

With his mind on the beehives and the 50 cocooned worker bees, Hua Mi wasn't in the mood for a proper meal. He heated up some instant noodles, washed them down with honey water, and headed outside to let in some fresh air.

The front yard, although much smaller than the back flower field, was neat and charming. This was his ancestral home, a bit old but with excellent Feng Shui, backed by fertile soil and a distant mountain range. It was a perfect place for beekeeping, and he had transformed it into a beekeeping facility.

Beekeeping, honey production, and distribution, he handled it all.

During the peak of his business, he had over a hundred hives, with five to six different flowering plants in his flower field. It was tiring, but it ensured maximum production. His income was substantial during that period.

However, it seemed like the heavens had grown tired of his success, and his fortune took a turn for the worse. He ended up idle at home, and his business dwindled. Now, he was down to just thirty hives.

In the past, Hua Mi Town had been a haven for beekeeping, but the current environment no longer offered any advantages, and his reputation had suffered. The era of Hua Mi Town had passed, there was no denying it.

However, that didn't mean that the new era had to be ushered in by industrialized bee enterprises.

Hua Mi finished his instant noodles, poured a cup of honey water, and couldn't wait to step into the flower field and cross over to the other world.

It was still dark in that parallel world.

The backyard was filled with Moon Dream Flowers, giving off a silver glow, like crescent moons. Silver specks of light rose from the flower field and disappeared into the air several meters above.

A huge "moon" hung in the night sky, emitting a pure, radiant light, at least ten times the size of Earth's moon.

It contrasted beautifully with the flower field, a breathtaking sight.

"This is true natural beauty..."

Hua Mi gazed at the moon with a dreamy look in his eyes. This kind of beauty could keep him watching all day.

The moon gradually descended, while the other side of the sky turned pale, and the sun soon rose. The sun here was similar to Earth's, with a comfortable temperature and brightness.

The diligent little bees began to emerge from the hives and swarmed toward the flower field.

The familiar buzzing comforted him. An experienced beekeeper could gauge the strength of a colony just by listening to their sounds.

Hua Mi's bees seemed stronger today. After a quick inspection, he sensed that their vitality had improved overall, likely due to the environment and the high-quality nectar they had sampled.

What concerned him the most, though, were the 50 cocooned worker bees.

As the day brightened, they began to break free from their cocoons. However, only 34 of them attempted to break free, while the remaining 16 remained still, already lifeless.

"The mortality rate is quite high."

Of the 34 surviving worker bees, half of them lost their vitality during the cocoon-breaking process. They couldn't crawl out and ended up suffocating.

Hua Mi thought there should be at least one beneficial mutation. Even gacha games had a guaranteed drop rate.

He wasn't exactly upset about the loss of these 50 worker bees; they were a manageable loss for a bee colony. It was just a bit disappointing.

It seemed that even in the magical world, breeding new bee species wasn't as simple as he had imagined.

Just then, one of the worker bees that had just emerged from its cocoon caught his attention.