Jia Xiaodong Finds It Hard to Leave His Native Soil, and Thrives in His Hometown

Jia Xiaodong is an ordinary beekeeper in Shibawa Village, Shanhe Town, Zezhou County. Every spring, he busies himself in the joy of breeding bees. Over more than a decade, Jia Xiaodong has relied on beekeeping to make his life increasingly prosperous, with more and more income. But in sharp contrast, his village has grown increasingly quiet. Today, this village has basically only him left, along with a colony of bees that keeps him company.

Setting out from the urban area of Jincheng, the reporter climbed along the winding mountain road for nearly two hours before the village where Jia Xiaodong keeps bees, Shibawa, came into view.

Just entering the village, the reporter saw rows of small boxes built along the mountain, neatly arranged and hanging on the mountainside, distributed in layers, very spectacular. The beekeeper Jia Xiaodong has long lived in the house beside these boxes.

Seeing the reporter, Jia Xiaodong pointed at the rows of small boxes hanging in the mountains and said that these were the beehives he used for beekeeping. The reporter found that the beehives before him were different from the ones commonly seen, as these beehives were all made of rattan.

Spring is the season for bees to reproduce. Because Jia Xiaodong uses traditional beekeeping methods, all the bees he keeps are wild bees. After the beehives are built, attracting bees and collecting bees have become almost the most important work for Jia Xiaodong every spring.

A long pole with a basket on top is Jia Xiaodong's capable tool for collecting bees. Speaking of beekeeping, Jia Xiaodong told the reporter: "I take honey and extract honey according to the bees' habits, all using traditional methods. Breeding bees is also natural breeding, not artificially cultivating queen bees. The method of producing honey is that the bees divide the work themselves, and the tasks among the bees are all different, just like us humans: when the temperature is high, they expand the hive; when the temperature is low, they keep the hive warm. When taking honey, you use a knife to pry open the hive, and the wax sheets grow on it. Cut one piece after another, throw them into a bucket, take them home and process them, and they become traditional honey!"

Traditional honey is actually what people often call wild honey. Because its yield is limited and its nutritional value is relatively high, it is deeply welcomed by people. Shibawa Village, where Jia Xiaodong is located, is a natural village under Zhulingou Village, Shanhe Town, Zezhou County. It is located deep in the mountains and has always had a tradition of keeping traditional bees.

Because of its remote location, over more than a decade the village's original more than 30 households all moved away one after another. Because Jia Xiaodong was unwilling to leave this native land that gave him birth and raised him, he relied on the beekeeping experience he learned from his ancestors and stayed in the village alone.

Over more than a decade, with an unyielding spirit of study and exploration, Jia Xiaodong's traditional bees grew from 1 colony at first to 80 colonies now. Today, as the roads have become open, more and more people come to the mountains for spring outings and tourism, and his wild honey has gradually been recognized by more people, becoming famous far and near, and the income from selling honey has increased day by day.

Talking about output and income, Jia Xiaodong said, "The annual output is about more than 1,000 jin. Calculated at the current price, one jin can sell for 30 to 50 yuan, and in a year I can earn 40,000 to 45,000 yuan."

Jia Xiaodong's beekeeping business can be said to be thriving day by day, but his village, Shibawa, is growing quieter day by day. Standing in Jia Xiaodong's yard and looking into the distance, one sees only surrounding mountains standing in rows and beautiful scenery. However, Jia Xiaodong has no choice but to accept the awkward situation that the whole village now has only him left.

More than ten years ago he chose to stay behind, and more than ten years later, he lives together with bees day and night. Jia Xiaodong said that now, he can no longer separate himself from this colony of bees, and also from this native land beneath his feet.