One-legged Beekeeper Li Zhimeng: Walking the Long Road of Beekeeping
Li Zhimeng is 53 years old this year and lives in Group 1, Zijin Village, Dajin Town, Kaizhou District, Chongqing. Polio left him with a lifelong disability, but he did not bow to fate. Instead, with tenacious perseverance, he carved out a sky of his own and now lives a happy life.
Exploring Beekeeping Experience
"I had a high fever when I was about 5 years old, which triggered polio," Li Zhimeng said. That accident completely changed the course of his life. He lost all feeling in his right lower limb, which was like a piece of wood.
However, fate did not stop testing Li Zhimeng. In 1982, he graduated from high school. He had thought he could smoothly get into university with his excellent grades, but because of his physical disability, he was told he could not take the exam.
With no other choice, Li Zhimeng chose to return home and do electrical repair work. As competitive pressure grew, he eventually decided to change careers. Since four generations of his ancestors had been beekeepers, he also became a beekeeper.
In 1991, Li Zhimeng began raising his first batch of bees. Unfortunately, an epidemic arrived unexpectedly and affected the entire colony.
Because he lacked beekeeping experience, Li Zhimeng bought a large number of books on beekeeping techniques. During the day, he hobbled around the hives on crutches, observing the bees. At night, he carefully pored over the books, looking for the cause of the bee pupae deaths.
His efforts finally paid off. Li Zhimeng found that what caused the bee pupae to die was a bacterial disease called "white foulbrood." "White foulbrood is a major problem in beekeeping. It cannot be cured at the root, and medication can only be used preventively."
After more than 10 years of exploring the path of beekeeping, Li Zhimeng summed up a relatively complete set of breeding techniques. His beekeeping scale grew from just a few hives at the beginning to more than 100 hives now, with an annual output of more than 7,000 jin of local honey.
Thanks to beekeeping, Li Zhimeng built a new house and became a skilled wealth creator in the village. The honey he makes is famous far and wide, and many city people even make special trips up the mountain to visit his apiary.
Searching Everywhere for Nectar Sources
"Flowers bloom at different times and in different places. Once the nectar in one place has been collected, the bee colony must move elsewhere," Li Zhimeng said. As a beekeeper, the hardest and most tiring work is moving the bees. His colonies are moved 5-6 times every year, the farthest being from Kaizhou to Hongchiba in Wuxi, a journey of more than 200 km.
In order to find high-quality nectar sources, wherever Li Zhimeng goes, he builds his apiary deep in the mountains.
The mountain roads are hard to travel and overgrown with thorns. Even ordinary people find them difficult to walk. Dragging his numb right leg, Li Zhimeng often uses both hands and feet, slowly inching along the mountain paths. When he encounters a larger slope or ridge, he grabs nearby branches or weeds and slowly pushes himself up with his left foot. A mountain path that takes an ordinary person 10 minutes to walk may take him half an hour.
"After all these years, I'm used to the roads. I'm not worried about them. What I fear most, actually, is being alone," Li Zhimeng said. The mountains are desolate and uninhabited, and often for several kilometers there is not a soul in sight. The only companion he has is loneliness.
"In the early years there was no electricity. It was rare to see a single person in the mountains. At night I could only read by a kerosene lamp to pass the time." After he got a mobile phone, Li Zhimeng's life became a little richer, but what he longed for most was still to find someone to talk with.
Making Friends with Bees
Besides making Li Zhimeng's right leg numb, polio also left him with the aftereffect of muscle paralysis. Many people often see him suddenly fall to the ground without warning while tending the hives because of muscle paralysis, but as soon as he regains feeling, he slowly gets up and continues busying himself as if nothing had happened.
"Your right leg is already inconvenient, and beekeeping is so hard and tiring. Have you never thought of giving up?" the reporter could not help asking.
"I'm used to it all. I have hands. It's not like I can't get back up," Li Zhimeng said lightly.
In 2006, honey prices fell sharply. Coupled with years of rushing about and exhaustion, Li Zhimeng became almost disheartened about beekeeping. Of the nearly 100 hives he had painstakingly built up, he sold all but the last few. Looking at the empty apiary, he struggled inwardly for a long time and felt he still could not let it go. In the end, he gritted his teeth and made it through the most difficult year.
After 25 years of beekeeping, Li Zhimeng had long developed feelings for bees. Bees were not only his source of livelihood, but also his spiritual support. "Bees have already become my friends. I will keep walking along this road of beekeeping."