I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 578 : Sweet Honey Tea

Yan Ganghui said, "Let's run and call out our steps together. Call 'one' for the middle foot and 'two' for the outer feet!"

Su Hui: "Ok!"

Soon it was their turn.

At the whistle of the staff, their arms wrapped around each other's necks, they called "one two one two" and ran swiftly.

The three-legged race tested not only their understanding but also their physical fitness.

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The round-trip distance was 40 meters. Yan Ganghui typically gasped for air after climbing a single flight of stairs, but he had soaked in a spiritual water hot spring the day before and had eaten potatoes and leeks grown with spiritual soil and water in the morning, feeling incredibly energetic.

They beat another couple by a slim margin and took first place in their group.

They looked at each other and burst into laughter!

The staff member handed over a voucher with a smile, "Congratulations on your victory! You can redeem it for a honey lemon tea at the drink stand in the square."

The couple behind them received a piece of candy as a reward, which was better than nothing.

With the voucher in hand, they headed to the drink stand.

Besides the honey lemon tea, they also ordered a honey pomelo tea.

Yan Ganghui noticed a sign next to them: "The honey used in this store is a product of a cooperative project with the Shanshui Nature Community..."

While waiting for the honey tea to be prepared, he read boredly.

The locals in Guanba, Sichuan, had largely relied on timber for their livelihoods!

Their income came from cutting down trees, transporting lumber, and other resources from the mountains.

For instance, the meat of goral, wild boar, and even Asian black bear was sold in restaurants.

Natural resources were abundant in the past, with golden hair monkeys and giant pandas being regular visitors.

However, as time passed, sightings of wild animals became rare, and due to electric fishing, the river's signature cold water fish were nearly extinct, and the environment worsened.

Guanba was located right next to the Tangjiahe Nature Reserve. To start community protection, alternative livelihoods had to be found for the villagers, so a series of initiatives were launched, which included beekeeping of the Chinese honeybee.

The Chinese honeybee itself was an endangered pollinator. By utilizing nectar plants in the habitat forests of pandas for honey production, they not only protected the bees but also the forests, providing a livelihood for the villagers, thus hitting three targets with one arrow.

Although not much profit was made from selling the honey, it drew attention, which is a vital resource. This attention served as a lubricant for a shift in the villagers' mindset.

They realized that it wasn't only logging, electric fishing, or harvesting medicinal plants that could bring in money.

Eventually, the villagers began participating in protective cooperative projects, earning 140 yuan for a day's patrolling. A few years ago, the villagers also established a convention prohibiting hunting, digging for medicinal plants, and random electric fishing, with all villagers signing it.

The number of cold water fish gradually recovered, and animals that had disappeared began returning.

Living off the mountains, the villagers' pockets grew thicker, and their homeland returned to its lush greenery and clear waters.

However, incidents of Asian black bears stealing honey became more frequent. To prepare for hibernation, bears would eat a lot between July and October, which coincided with the honey maturation period.

Compared to the sparse wild beehives in the forests, the hundreds of beehives in the apiaries were undoubtedly a feast for the bears, who would not only forcefully destroy the beehives but also devour the brood and eggs, which greatly discouraged the villagers' conservation efforts.

In addition to setting up bear alarms, Shanshui Nature, under the principle of community leadership, organized meetings to discuss a universally accepted solution and establish a bear Incident fund, which has recently started operating.

Now, similar honey protection projects are also being carried out in some Asiatic elephant communities in Yunnan.

"Sir, your honey tea is ready!"

Yan Ganghui snapped out of his thoughts, feeling moved and surprised to learn of such a story behind the honey.

Conservation work isn't smooth sailing; it really tests one's wisdom to balance community development with nature protection.

He and Su Hui each picked up a cup of honey drink and took a sip with a "slurp".

You have to admit, it's sweet and savory, especially with the unique flavor of lemon—it's quite tasty.

Walking through the square, he noticed several display boards adorned with bee patterns!

He hadn't been particularly interested in bees before, but after having read the story about honey and the community just now and sipping on the honey tea, he couldn't help but stop to take a look at the display boards.

There were interesting fun facts about bees on the display boards!

For instance, a bee can fly 24 kilometers in an hour.

It doesn't hibernate in winter; instead, they cluster together in their nest and vibrate their wings to keep warm.

To produce one kilogram of honey, bees need to visit 1 million flowers, work 33,300 hours, and fly 450,000 kilometers, which is the equivalent of circling the Earth 11 times.

"Wow!" Su Hui couldn't help but glance at the honey tea in her hand and exclaimed in amazement, "No wonder they're called the industrious little honeybees!"

Does it take flying thousands, maybe tens of thousands of kilometers, to make just one cup of this honey tea? That's way harder than the job of a delivery person.

Yan Ganghui's gaze was captured by another display board: "Wow! If bees disappear, humans can only survive for four years?"

He was somewhat puzzled—were bees really that important?

If bees weren't around to pollinate, couldn't butterflies fill the gap left by the bees?

This is a very common thought!

But ecological niches aren't like children's building blocks that can be moved around at will. Every animal has its own unique ecological role.

Tigers, leopards, and wolves are all predators, but only tigers can effectively control the population of wild boars.

After the extinction of the dodo, the tambalacoque tree, which mainly relied on the dodo to digest and grind its seeds for germination, also became increasingly rare.

Like a line of dominoes, once one falls, it triggers a chain reaction.

The structure of nature is complex and precise, and though it has a degree of tolerance, this tolerance is limited.

As Yan Ganghui looked at the display board, his expression gradually became more solemn.

One-third of human food is directly or indirectly dependent on the pollination of bees and other insects; it's not just bees facing threats but other pollinators like butterflies and bats are also experiencing the risk of extinction. They are struggling for their own survival, let alone taking over for others.

If this continues, nutritious crops such as vegetables and fruits will be replaced by a few staples like rice and potatoes, leading to nutritional imbalance and severe famines facing humanity.

Just thinking about having only potatoes and rice to eat for years makes life seem dull and joyless, devoid of the pleasures of living.

The next display board introduced things that can be done to protect bees!

For example, planting a variety of local plants with different blooming periods, buying raw honey from local farmers to promote the development of beekeeping.

Avoid using pesticides and herbicides, manage waste properly, and protect wild bee nests.

Of course, there's also spreading the message about the importance of bees to raise awareness.

Understanding leads to caring, caring leads to action.

Yan Ganghui immediately took several photos and shared them on his social circle, saying, "Today's May 20th, also World Bee Day. I never realized how important these little bees are! They deserve our respect and care. Let's all give a little ❤️ to the bees."

A friend commented: "Such an odd holiday!"