Wandering America: My kill threshold is far ahead

Chapter 261 Other contestants, please surrender in order.

Fully armed, Ma Jie returned to the vicinity of the tree hole via the same route.

He looks like a moving mummy now, with everything covered except for his eyes.

Since the tree hole was quite high off the ground, they had to drag a few pieces of dead wood from nearby and use them as a makeshift staircase.

To soothe the little bee, he took out a cola can, cut off the top completely, and filled it with dried sawdust scraped from the bark.

Wipe! Wipe! Wipe!

Using the back of a knife to scrape the magnesium rod vigorously, the hot sparks quickly ignited the sawdust, and a bright flame shot up.

Next, Ma Jieke crushed the wet leaves and put them in, then covered them with a layer of moss.

In this way, a simple homemade smoke generator is ready. Just put it in a tree hole, and the bees will mistake it for a forest fire, thus triggering their survival instinct.

But their first reaction is not to flee immediately, but to have a hearty meal and fill their honey sacs with honey.

These bees are making strategic reserves for their impending escape. From leaving this hive to building a new one, they rely entirely on the honey in their bellies to survive.

A bee that has suckled its fill of honey will have a swollen and distended abdomen, making it difficult for it to bend its abdomen and thus unable to sting effectively.

prick.

Next, they will enter a state of full alert, patiently waiting for two things to happen.

First, observe whether the smoke is persistent.

Second, observe whether the queen bee has any intention of escaping.

Of course, the most crucial element is the queen bee. As long as the queen bee stays, the worker bees will never easily flee.

In other words, the only problem MaJack needs to solve now is the queen bee.

However, a wild bee colony consists of at least 20,000 bees, and for non-professional beekeepers, it's like finding a needle in a haystack.

So he decided to fight a protracted war: you're not leaving, so I'll keep smoking you.

If one hour isn't enough, then two hours; if two hours aren't enough, then four hours. I have plenty of time to waste with you.

Not only did Ma Jieke think this way, he actually did it. Once the smoke had dissipated sufficiently, he seamlessly switched to another can and put it in.

You're not in a hurry, and neither am I. Let's just wait and see.

After the smoke continued for an unknown period of time, the queen bee finally couldn't take it anymore and, surrounded by a dense swarm of worker bees, poured out of the tree hole.

Good heavens, a swarm of tens of thousands of bees looks truly spectacular.

Ma Jieke stood at a distance with a camera, recording this breathtaking scene: all the worker bees gathered around the queen bee, forming a huge golden living cloud, larger than a standard basketball, which tumbled and hovered in the air.

But what's most unsettling is the volume, which is much louder than expected.

Tens of thousands of pairs of wings vibrate at a high speed of tens of thousands of times per minute, producing a continuous, deep, and powerful roar.

It was almost as loud as the roar of a small plane engine, and even the air was vibrating slightly.

Even more amazing was the rich, sweet aroma that filled the air—a blend of honey, beeswax, and pollen.

"Family members, am I being a bit unethical by doing this?"

Looking at the homeless bees, Ma Jieke lowered his voice and said, "But it's too late to regret it now. Hopefully, they can find a new home as soon as possible."

Next comes another long waiting period. The swarm won't fly away all at once and wander around like headless flies. Instead, it will send out scout bees to find new habitats such as tree holes and rock crevices.

The remaining bees will gather in a temporary swarm on nearby branches, "suspending" in mid-air in a relatively static state, resting and waiting for the scout bees to return.

If you're lucky, it only takes an hour or two; if you're unlucky, it could take a day or two.

But having already done the ninety-nine prostrations, Ma Jieke figured one more hurdle wouldn't hurt. Any amount of time spent was worth it to collect honey without injury.

He planned to wait until it got dark, and if the swarm of bees didn't leave, he would go back to sleep and come back to collect the rice the next day.

As soon as the sun began to set, the scout bees found a place to set up camp. Guided by the sun, the swarm began to move, slowly drifting away into the distance like dark clouds.

"Nice!" He clenched his fist excitedly. "Family, do you know what this is called? 'The blessed don't need to work hard, the unlucky work themselves to death.' Now, it's time to witness a miracle!"

Watching the swarm of bees disappear into the distance, Ma Jie quickly climbed up and first used a wood-chopping axe to widen the opening in the tree hole.

When he placed the smoke canister earlier, he noticed that the inside of this tree hole was a completely different world, much larger than the open entrance. Unfortunately, he didn't dare to stay there for long and only glanced at it briefly.

Holy crap!!!

When the narrow tree hole, barely big enough to fit an arm, was fully opened, Ma Jieke's eyes widened violently, and he instinctively let out a gasp.

Inside this unremarkable tree hole, golden, flat nest combs hung from left to right, arranged in a neat cluster like razor-blade batteries.

These honeycomb combs extend downwards from the top of the burrow, and are quite close together, with only a narrow path for the bees to pass through.

Each honeycomb is approximately 30 centimeters high and 15 centimeters wide.

Both sides are covered with classic hexagonal cells, totaling at least seven or eight. All the liquid honey is stored in these small compartments, which are sealed with a layer of beeswax.

Beeswax does not come from the outside world, but is a special substance secreted from the wax glands in the abdomen of worker bees.

To put it simply, it relies on its body to produce building materials, and then uses these materials to make a honeycomb.

The honey is covered with beeswax to prevent it from absorbing moisture, spoiling, or fermenting, and can be preserved for several years without going bad.

Without saying a word, Ma Jieke broke off a piece with his hand and eagerly stuffed it into his mouth.

With a "crack" sound, the thin and brittle beeswax was bitten through by teeth.

Immediately afterwards, a thick, warm, flowing liquid honey, like a long-suppressed torrent, surged out of my mouth.

This is not the thin sweetness of white sugar, but an extremely rich, complex, and layered sweetness.

The aftertaste also carries a subtle, almost imperceptible tartness. This delicate tartness perfectly balances the taste buds, preventing it from becoming cloyingly sweet and instead adding depth to the flavor.

Only high-quality honey collected directly from the pristine wilderness without human processing has this unique taste.

After swallowing all the liquid honey, there were still quite a few beeswax residues left in my mouth.

Don't worry, this stuff is non-toxic and harmless, and has a wide range of uses, most commonly as a food additive.

The gummies, chocolate chips, nuts, and fresh fruits sold in supermarkets are likely to have a layer of beeswax on their surface, which makes them look shiny, keeps them fresh, and prevents them from sticking together.

However, beeswax itself has almost no taste. When it softens from its brittle state, it acts like chewing gum. You can chew it in your mouth for a long time to clean the honey residue in your mouth until it is chewed into a tasteless and slightly grainy wax ball, which you can then spit out like chewing gum.

This substance is essentially wax, which is indigestible to the human body. If you force yourself to swallow it, it is very likely to cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

Although a few bees remained in the tree hole, these old, weak, and sick no longer posed a threat to Ma Jieke.

Carefully cut the beehives with a sharp survival knife, keeping them as intact as possible to avoid unnecessary damage.

And there were a total of ten beehives like these, which were larger and thicker than bricks, inside the tree hole!

Two of the honeycombs looked like old, dull, lifeless hives, and they didn't seem to store much honey.

Since he was already there, Ma Jie naturally accepted everything. Although he couldn't squeeze out much honey, the beeswax on top was a valuable resource that absolutely couldn't be wasted.

Returning to the permanent shelter with a full load of goods, he immediately turned on his live streaming equipment. He's an honest man who doesn't mince words; that's just how bold he is!

As soon as the show started, its popularity exploded, attracting 3,000 viewers right from the start, and the barrage of comments instantly filled the entire screen.

"Coming here because of his reputation! The number one expert in killing bears in the wild!"

"Starting the broadcast so late again, don't you consider the feelings of your viewers at all?"

"What delicious food have you prepared today? Share it with everyone!"

Once most of the viewers had entered and the number of online viewers remained around eight thousand, Ma Jieke didn't say a word of nonsense and turned the camera to the honeycomb that was deliberately arranged in a pyramid shape.

"Is...is this cheese?"

"What kind of eyesight do you have? Do you think cheese grows in your backyard? It's obviously honey!"

"My God, are you a human or a monster? How did you even find this place?"

"I bet the streamer's face is covered in welts from bee stings, otherwise why wouldn't he dare show his face?"

"That's awesome, Jack! I hereby declare you the champion. The other contestants, surrender in order."

"What do you mean you won the championship? Can honey be eaten as food? It's not like we hunted moose and bison."

Looking at the barrage of comments, most viewers supported him, while only a small number of "mouthy kings" would jump out to mock him no matter what achievements he had made.

Ma Jieke couldn't be bothered with this kind of cute guy. Giving him even a second glance was a favor. It was just a shame that the kick and block functions weren't enabled; otherwise, he would have given him a taste of the power of authority.

The camera panned, revealing an unharmed face. Ma Jieke couldn't help but laugh, "I saw some comments saying my face was covered in bee stings. I'm sorry to disappoint you. As for how I managed to collect honey without getting hurt, the live stream only has so much content. The answer will be revealed when the show officially airs."

After briefly whetting the audience's appetite, the fixed camera positions were set up, and the actual honey extraction began.

"Generally speaking, the best container for storing honey is a glass jar. If a glass jar is not available, large leaves and bark can also serve as temporary containers. Even if the seal is not strong, it can still be stored for a long time because honey itself has extremely strong antibacterial and preservative properties. Theoretically, it will never spoil, only some of its quality and taste will be sacrificed."

As Ma Jieke spoke, he picked up a clean bottle of liquor from the ground. The bottle had a net capacity of 875 milliliters. He had collected many glass containers of this size from the old camp, and now they were finally coming in handy.

The method for extracting honey is also very simple: roll up a piece of bark core, make a simple funnel, and insert it into the bottle opening.

Then wash your hands, open the medical first aid kit, take out the precious medical gauze, and wrap the honeycomb cut into small pieces with the gauze.

Squeeze and rub the honeycomb with both hands until it breaks and deforms, allowing the honey to be filtered out and flow into the bottle through a funnel. The remaining solid portion remains in the gauze.

This process, let alone getting hands-on with it, is incredibly stress-relieving even just sitting in front of the screen and watching.

"Don't throw away these honeycomb residues. Just extract the beeswax and you can make candles, soaps, and lip balms. Applying them to tool handles and bowstrings can also reduce wear and tear."

"Look closely, these white parts are bee pupae and larvae. Don't be disgusted, they're high-quality protein. If you don't want the hassle, I suggest eating them raw."

While explaining to the camera, Ma Jieke transformed into a human bear, directly licking the food with his tongue.

You know what, it actually tastes pretty good; it's kind of like a mixture of cheese and nuts.

After filtering out all the liquid honey, it filled five glass bottles. When all the bottles were weighed together, they weighed at least 4 kilograms.

Actually, 4 kilograms of honey is not much for a bee colony. In a strong bee colony consisting of tens of thousands of bees, collecting more than 10 kilograms of honey from a single hive is a basic operation.

But for Ma Jieke, 4 kilograms of honey is definitely a luxury. If he just drinks honey water, he wouldn't be able to finish it even by the time the final round comes around.

However, honey has preservative properties. When combined with berries, it can be made into candied fruit, and when combined with meat, it can be made into dried meat and jerky.

All things considered, 4 kilograms is actually a bit of a stretch.

Forget it, I'll stop thinking about it now. There's still a long road ahead, I'll just take it one step at a time.

After collecting the honey, Ma Jie plugged the bottle with a homemade cork and began refining the remaining beeswax.

He used the simplest boiling method, and instead of using a stainless steel pot for everyday cooking, he used a broken pot salvaged from an old camp.

Because beeswax is difficult to clean thoroughly after being heated, it would be a waste to ruin the pot over something like that.

Place the broken honeycomb into a pot, add water (about the same amount as when steaming rice, just enough to cover it), and the water level should be just above the surface.

Then reduce the fire's intensity, heat it slowly with a small flame, and stir constantly.

"Beeswax has a melting point of only around 60 degrees Celsius, so never boil it in water, otherwise it will easily overflow."

Once the beeswax had completely melted, Ma Jie quickly removed the pot from the fire and placed it away from the heat source to let it sit.

"Family members, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Let it cool naturally. The contents of the pot will separate into layers: the top layer is solidified beeswax, the middle layer is wax residue, and the bottom layer is impurities. Just run a knife around the edge of the pot and you can easily remove the entire wax cake. If you want to improve the quality, you can crush the wax cake again and boil it in water to further filter out the impurities. The color of the beeswax will also be more yellow and purer."

"Has everyone learned it yet?"

After explaining the wax extraction process, Ma Jie put the stainless steel pot back on, intending to cook a pot of Jerusalem artichokes for dinner.

Once cooked, this stuff tastes similar to sweet potato, but it's more delicate, with a sandy and chewy texture. It's absolutely delicious when dipped in honey.

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