"It's probably a bird's nest. There are quite a few seabirds nesting in these trees," Ming Dahai replied absentmindedly.
Being far away, Mingjing didn't pay any attention.
Besides seafood, the island is home to seabirds, which usually live on high cliffs or tall trees to avoid predators. This large bird's nest is probably that of a sea eagle.
"Dad, let's go check on the cage. It's getting late, let's go back," Mingjing said, her stomach rumbling.
Ming Dahai thought about the few puddles ahead that he hadn't touched yet, and was reluctant to leave.
“Since we’re already here, let’s take another look. Mingliang and Mingyue, you two go find some seafood so we can grill it. I’ll go check out that puddle over there. Mingjing, you go find some stones to build a stove.”
The seasonings I brought last time are all gone, but I still have a few boxes of lighters left in the system's inventory.
The stones were easy to find, but finding the kindling was a bit more difficult. After looking around, Mingjing threw down a dry branch and lit it.
While waiting for her sisters to bring the things, she sat on a rock, idly looking at the big tree in front of her. After observing for a while, she suddenly noticed that no birds had nested in that tree.
Instead, a few bees were wandering around.
Mingjing thought it was a bee collecting nectar, but the bee went inside and never came out again.
"Dad, is that a sea eagle's nest up there? I haven't seen any sea eagles landing in it."
"Perhaps that's not its home."
“No, no other birds have gone in either, so it doesn’t seem like it,” Mingjing said, walking closer to take a look.
"That tree is too tall. There should be sea snakes here. Be careful and don't wander off," Ming Dahai instructed.
Some sea snakes can climb trees, and it would be terrifying if they were hiding inside one.
"It's alright, I'll go take a look."
Mingjing, unwilling to give up, went forward. The big tree was floating on the shore, its roots crooked.
"Mingjing, don't run around. I don't think that place is safe." Ming Dahai looked at the tree and felt extremely panicked.
"Dad, I feel like that thing looks like a beehive, maybe it's a sea bee."
Sea bees are a unique type of bee found in this area. They often live in burrows and trees, are extremely cold-resistant, and are small in size but have strong cohesion.
Ming Dahai looked up at the large tree in front of him incredulously and asked suspiciously, "Sea bees? You recognize these?"
They only have this one type of bee here. It's a social animal, different from other bees, and it's a different species from those found in mountains and coconut groves.
“Yes, that’s what my adoptive parents in the inland taught me. Dad, you stay here while I go take a look.”
"Wait a minute, I'll go with you."
Sea bees have guards protecting their hives; they would be quite dangerous if they were to shield someone from them.
Walking along the road, Ming Dahai became worried, "If it really is a sea bee, then we can't do anything today, those things sting painfully."
Mingjing nodded, "I know, let's check if it's correct."
If it were truly wild sea bees, the honey would definitely be very valuable. In later generations, almost all honey is from domesticated bees, and honey made with artificial syrup sells for a considerable amount of money.
They've really found something out of this huge beehive.
But soon she felt worried again. If the luck value meant honey, wouldn't her cage be ruined again?
"Wait a moment, Mingjing."
Ming Dahai picked two huge banana leaves from the side, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Ming Jing.
If a bee swarms over, it can be used as a weapon.
For a moment, Mingjing felt that Mingdahai was also somewhat naive, and she took the banana leaf.
The surrounding area was densely covered with rocks, unlike the previous area which was easier to walk on. The trees around were only as thick as a thigh, looking malnourished.
Except for that sturdy coconut tree, which is still full of life.
The two walked to the tree and from a distance, they saw that a hole had been cut out in the middle of the coconut tree. The middle should have been hollow, but it was filled with a yellow substance.
Bees patrol the entrance from time to time. The entrance is about the size of a frying pan, and it gets narrower as you go up. At the very top is a funnel-shaped honeycomb, like an inverted radar pot lid.
It weighs at least fifty pounds, so big that it casts a shadow around the coconut tree and looks like an umbrella on the ground. It must be at least ten years old.
Perhaps it was the presence of the people that attracted the bees' attention, for the bees at the very top of the hive vibrated noticeably, all of them huddled around the top of the hive, rhythmically flapping their wings.
A small group also came for Ming Dahai and Ming Jing.
Ming Dahai waved the banana leaf a few times and exclaimed, "It's a sea bee. Its nectar is exceptionally delicious. This hive must be decades old."
"Dad, how do we collect this?"
Ming Dahai shook his head. "No, although sea bees have the habit of abandoning their hives and migrating as a whole, wouldn't so many bees turn us into a hornet's nest?"
Mingjing knew that people usually wore windproof clothing to protect themselves from bees when collecting honey, and they didn't know they would encounter a beehive today, so they didn't bring any of those things.
"Dad, I have an idea. If we cover ourselves in thick mud, the bees won't sting us, right?"
Ming Dahai had no better option at the moment, so he immediately went to the beach, dug up a handful of mud, and smeared it on his face, while Ming Jing simply lay down and rolled around in the mud.
Except for her eyes, which were covered in mud, her smile revealed a row of white teeth. If she didn't speak, even her mother wouldn't recognize her.
"Hey, a sea monkey?"
The bright moon rose from the west and saw two mud figures standing by the water, which terrified him.
“Mingliang, Mingyue, stay away. There’s a big beehive ahead. Wild bees are valuable. Mingjing and I will go take a look.”
Ming Dahai gathered his muddy hair and headed toward the beehive with a shovel.
As soon as we approached the hive, the bees swarmed around us, but strangely, they flew away as soon as they touched the mud.
"It works, it works."
Mingjing grinned, but the next second a bee stung his scalp.
"Ouch, this thing is biting my head," Mingjing said, feeling a burning sensation on her scalp.
If so many bees come over, she'll really turn into a big-headed doll.
After thinking for a while, Mingjing had an idea. "Dad, bees are most afraid of fire. Let's light a fire first, and the bees will definitely run away when they touch the smoke and fire."
Ming Dahai nodded, thinking that this method was also good.
The fire that Mingjing had started had gone out because no one was watching it, so Mingdahai turned around, picked up a match, and lit it again.
It was windy by the sea, and it only started to light up slowly after a few tries.
"Dad, can't we go back and sell bee-proof clothing tomorrow?" Mingliang wondered why the two of them were in such a hurry to do it today.
"Honey is over 100 yuan a pound now, and this is top-quality stuff. I won't be able to sleep when I get back."
Ming Dahai lit a thicker wooden stick.
"Dad, it's too much trouble for us to hold it up. Let's light a ring of fireworks around the tree and smoke it out."
Mingjing was afraid that holding a torch would anger the bees, so smoking them out was the best option.
"OK."
Ming Dahai scattered a pile of dry firewood ten meters around the beehive, and Ming Jing added some diesel fuel to make it catch fire faster.
The diesel smoke was thick, swirling around the big tree, and Mingjing stayed far away.
"What did you catch? Let's eat first, we should be able to finish by then."
Mingjing clapped his hands, turned around, and sat back down on the rock.
"Dad, what does honey taste like?"
"Ask your sister, I've never eaten anything this expensive."
Honey is something for the wealthy. Their island cuisine is light, and sweet honey isn't to their taste, plus it's expensive.
"Sweet, cloyingly sweet."
The honey Mingjing had eaten was mostly cloyingly sweet, and wild honey, which is said to have a delicate floral fragrance, was something she had never tried.
"Dad, let's keep some, I want to eat it with seafood."
"Don't think about food all day long. It's better to keep such expensive things and sell them for money. If you want to eat, Dad will get you a finger to try later."
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