Vol. 1 Chapter 2.4 – Late September, 1566

While the rice harvest was underway, Shizuko set out separately to collect something else.

Her destination was the Japanese honeybee hive she had installed near a place she had been too frightened to approach for some time.

It was both the place where she had reunited with Wittmann and the site where she had been attacked by bandits.

When she reported the incident involving those bandits to Nobunaga, he became thoroughly enraged and subsequently dispatched soldiers to eradicate the bandits throughout the surrounding area.

Apparently, the fact that bandits had dared to operate right under his nose had greatly offended him.

Shizuko shuddered at the thought that his short temper was exactly as recorded in history.

“Well, thanks to that, it’s safe now…but I have mixed feelings about it.”

“About what, Village Chief?”

Tagosaku, whom she had brought along to help collect the honey, asked, tilting his head.

Apparently, he had overheard Shizuko talking to herself, though he had not understood what she meant.

“Oh, nothing. More importantly, are you ready?”

“No problem there. But are you sure this is really going to be safe…?”

As he spoke, Tagosaku glanced in a certain direction.

There, countless Japanese honeybees were flying about, so many that trying to count them would have been utterly pointless.

It was no wonder Tagosaku was feeling apprehensive.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Now then, first we’ll use some cypress leaves to produce smoke.”

“I really hope this is going to be okay…”

Despite his misgivings, Tagosaku began arranging the cypress leaves Shizuko had prepared over the shichirin (charcoal brazier) they had readied beforehand.

The leaves quickly heated up, but because they were fresh rather than dried, they produced a large amount of smoke.

They then fanned the smoke toward the Japanese honeybee hive.

A change in the bees’ behavior soon became apparent.

The Japanese honeybees that had been flying around outside hurriedly retreated into their hive, seemingly in a panic.

In less than five minutes, the number of honeybees flying outside the hive had dwindled to the point where they could easily be counted.

“Next, I’ll put this over here…”

Picking up the shichirin, Shizuko placed it near the hive.

She then added more leaves to the brazier, increasing the amount of smoke.

Before long, the smoke had grown thick enough to completely envelop the hive, prompting even the few remaining Japanese honeybees to retreat inside.

“And with that, our preparations are complete.”

“That’s amazing…”

Tagosaku gazed at Shizuko with admiration, impressed by how quickly she had driven the Japanese honeybees back into their hive.

What Shizuko had done was use smoke to trick the Japanese honeybees into believing that a forest fire had broken out.

When deceived in this manner, Japanese honeybees instinctively consume and store large amounts of honey as food.

This allowed them to secure honey for overwintering while also making the bees more docile.

Once honeybees have filled their stomachs, both their aggressiveness and activity levels decrease, making them reluctant to leave their hive.

Thanks to this, the hive could be moved easily, even without protective clothing or other equipment designed for handling bees.

“Alright, next I need to find the queen bee. Ah, Tagosaku-san, could you prepare the hive boxes for me?”

“Roger that!”

After moving the shichirin aside, Shizuko lightly tapped the corner of one of the stacked hive boxes.

Kon, kon.

She then dismantled the hive and began searching for the queen bee.

She found her surprisingly easily and incorporated the box containing her into the newly installed hive.

By doing so, the worker bees would detect that their queen had moved and instinctively attempt to follow her.

Furthermore, because the hive box still contained part of their honeycomb, the honeybees would seek to rebuild the sections of the comb that had been lost.

Sure enough, the Japanese honeybees began moving out of the old hive one after another.

Once Shizuko judged that most of them had relocated, she collected all the bottom boxes and stacked hive boxes.

She then placed a new bottom box on the stand and began assembling the hive with such practiced movements that even Tagosaku could not help but admire her skill.

In less than ten minutes, a brand-new hive had been installed in its place.

“That should do it”

“Amazing… Wait, what’s this?”

Tagosaku asked curiously, looking at the hive boxes placed inside the basket.

“What do you mean? These are honeycombs. We’re going to extract honey from them now. I think there’s roughly three kilograms in there alone.”

“Huh? Honey…?”

“Ah, well, it’s a valuable medicine. I was thinking of presenting it to our lord and using it to persuade him to accommodate a few of my unreasonable requests.”

“I… see…”

“It’s fine to enjoy a little for its taste but consuming this carelessly can actually be dangerous, you know.”

Honey is the sweetest nectar found in nature, consisting of approximately eighty percent sugar and twenty percent water.

Although it also contains small amounts of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, its primary component is sugar.

However, honey’s greatest advantage is undoubtedly its antibacterial properties, which allow it to be preserved for extended periods.

There are even records of three-thousand-year-old honey being excavated from the Egyptian pyramids without having deteriorated in the slightest, demonstrating just how powerful honey’s antibacterial properties are.

Since honey did not necessarily have to be consumed as food, its antibacterial properties could also be used to disinfect wounds.

‘Well, I doubt anyone in this era would develop diabetes from consuming too much honey… though.’

“Well, thanks to you, Village Chief, we don’t have to go off to war, so I guess this must be something important too. I’ll make sure to carry it carefully!”

“We’ve still got two more hives to go, so let’s do our best and collect the rest!”

After giving an enthusiastic cheer, Shizuko and Tagosaku proceeded to harvest the honeycombs from the remaining two hives in the same manner.

The total amount of honey they managed to harvest was approximately ten kilograms. However, Japanese honeybees naturally produced relatively small quantities of honey, so Shizuko considered this an excellent result nonetheless.