As February began, Christopher paid a visit to Redwood Winery for the first time in a while.
He arrived in a black coat and black leather gloves, holding a 2004 vintage Opus One in his hand.
“It came into my possession by chance, and I happened to think of you.”
“Thank you. My father’s been completely absorbed in wine lately. He’ll be delighted.”
“Isn’t Aeschlon enough for your father?”
“Haha, it is, but with wine, you have to try all kinds. Please, come in.”
When I brought him into the office, Dad welcomed him with a bright smile.
“It’s been a while. You look even better?”
How much could one really tell about the complexion of a white man’s face? It was just a greeting. Perhaps the phrase “your face looks better” sounded strange to him, because he paused slightly, then seemed to decide from the atmosphere that it must be a compliment and smiled awkwardly.
“Do I? Haha... More importantly, I came to share some good news.”
“Let’s talk over some tea first.”
Dad made yuja tea with citron syrup he had recently bought at a Korean market in LA. Christopher blew on the hot yuja tea and took a cautious sip, then opened his eyes wide at the sweet, refreshing taste.
“Oh—this is good.”
“Isn’t it? In Korea, it’s a must-have tea in winter. Without it, something feels missing. After one winter, a whole jar like this is usually gone.”
“Koreans seem to have a lot of good things we don’t know about.”
“Of course. Even after ten years, you probably still won’t know them all.”
That’s right, Dad. Around the time I regressed, people were only just going crazy over gimbap, tteokbokki, and galbi.
“So that’s why you can make wine with such meticulous care.”
“That’s because we did well.”
“Ah! Hahahaha! I see.”
After bursting into cheerful laughter like that, he sipped his yuja tea again and brought up the main subject.
“The truth is, half of the Sylphid volume being distributed in the eastern United States has already been depleted.”
“Ah, when you mentioned your distribution strategy before, you said you would deliberately control the supply, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. I controlled it even more than I explained back then, but the people on-site kept pressing us for more stock, so things haven’t gone exactly as planned.”
“Ah... You intended to reduce it even more.”
It seemed he very much wanted to hoard Sylphid and sell it at a high price. From our standpoint, since we had already handed it all over to the distributor at wholesale prices, as long as he didn’t ruin the brand image, what he did with it was none of our concern.
“Therefore, the value of the limited-edition Sylphid put up for auction this time is expected to rise even further. So...”
Glancing at us discreetly, he asked in a subtle tone.
“How is the Pinot Noir from that other farm in Russian Valley coming along?”
In other words, since I’m doing so well right now, please give me the distribution rights to that one too.
“Mm... It is going well, but... we’ll let you know when the time comes.”
Dad never made hasty decisions. Of course, my thoughts were the same as Dad’s.
“Haha, I see. I’m just looking forward to it so much. Ah, and there’s something else I wanted to tell you... A decent farm has come up in Napa. I saw that you had been continuing to buy farms, so I wondered if I should let you know...”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s not far north of Oakville, so the location is excellent, but apparently the owner got into gambling and lost big. So he ended up putting even the farm on the market...”
I tilted my head. As a wine distributor, it would be easy enough for him to know that some farm’s grape contract had ended, but I found it curious that he even knew about a real estate transaction like a farm being put up for sale.
“You know that kind of information too? That’s interesting.”
“Haha, I was lucky.”
“Did they put it up very cheaply?”
“No. After all, the Napa Valley name carries weight, and there are rumors that he settled his debts first with the reserve wines at the winery.”
Only then did I realize how he had come by this information.
“You found out because the reserve wine came out cheaply?”
“That’s right. I heard rumors that a competing wine distributor had secured a large quantity of wine I’d been keeping an eye on at a low price, and when I looked into it, I found out what was going on.”
He spoke with a bitter smile, and I could tell that competition in wine distribution was fierce as well.
“I appreciate it, but for now... Just in case, we’re trying to keep our funds on hand until this year’s harvest.”
“Ah, I see. I don’t think it’s a bad strategy to hold on to the funds you’ve gathered for about a year. Good farms can come up again at any time.”
“In any case, thank you for letting us know.”
After he left, Dad wore a slightly regretful expression.
“It would’ve been better if I hadn’t heard. Now that I’ve got the information, I’m feeling greedy for no reason. I suppose that’s why they say seeing breeds desire. The old sayings are never wrong.”
“I know. Let’s release only the wines we prepared this year first, then decide whether to move. By then, even better land might come up. And we don’t know what condition this year’s wine will be in...”
“That’s true.”
Since the condition of wine changed slightly every year, even without a financial crisis, setting aside funds was, in fact, an important part of running a winery.
“I’ll head out now.”
“Ah, you said you were going to the almond farm again today, didn’t you? Drive safely.”
“Yes.”
I left the winery right away, got in the car, and headed for the almond farm in Brentwood.
After driving for about an hour and a half and arriving at the almond farm, I headed toward the place where the beehives had been stacked a few days earlier. I could already see bees buzzing around. Normally, I would have flinched first and checked where the bees were, but since I knew they were Italian honeybees, I didn’t pay much attention.
The type of honeybee mainly used for almond pollination in California was the Italian honeybee, Apis mellifera ligustica, and there was a reason Italian honeybees were preferred over other honeybees.
First of all, they adapted well to California’s climate. Though their overwintering ability was inferior to that of Northern European strains, they began laying eggs relatively early in spring. As a result, they had the advantage of being able to maintain strong colonies in time for the beginning of flowering in early February.
And the important point was their gentle temperament. To pollinate almond farms spanning dozens or hundreds of acres, hundreds of beehives had to be set up and managed, and that inevitably meant contact with nearby farms and workers. Naturally, if the bees weren’t docile, there was a high chance of large-scale disputes breaking out, and Italian bees were relatively low in aggression.
In the end, they could be said to fit almond farming perfectly.
“Still makes me nervous, though.”
I had, of course, studied beekeeping before, but unlike wine, I had never experienced it directly. Other insects didn’t scare me, but bees did make me a little worried.
With that slight tension, I safely reached the area with the hives, where I saw Brandon and Harold Cooper, whom I had met before, working on something.
“You’re here?”
Brandon, holding a smoker, raised his empty hand. Seeing him working hard with a veil over his head looked somewhat funny.
“Are things going well?”
“I’m dying here...”
He was still grumbling, but he didn’t look as though he absolutely hated it.
I quickly put on the rubber gloves provided, changed into boots, and carefully pulled the veil over myself so no bees could get in. Then I walked toward the two of them, where Harold Cooper was in the middle of continuing his lesson for Brandon.
His hands were hardened like thick leather, and ease was ingrained in his movements. With his thick fingers, he gently lifted the cover of the hive.
“This is the very sign of spring. Look, when the bees spread their wings, it means they already know the flowers are coming.”
Brandon waved the smoker and asked cautiously.
“Do I need to use a lot of this...?”
“No, keep the smoke to a minimum. Bees react to the air first, so if you blast them too hard, they panic.”
Cooper controlled the smoke with practiced movements as he spoke. But in that moment, I realized I had made a mistake.
‘Ah... this won’t do...’
I had only thought that, through renting out the hives, he would take care of the bees and pass on a certain amount of knowledge to Brandon. I hadn’t considered that his knowledge would be extremely outdated by 2025 standards.
I could have thought that far, but since the almond farm wasn’t mine, I had sketched things out roughly and missed it. Still, I couldn’t just leave it alone, so I spoke carefully.
“Do you happen to have a thermometer and hygrometer on the farm?”
Brandon lifted his head.
“Not here, but there should be some at the cherry farm.”
“Ah, really? Got it. I’ll go there for a moment.”
Harold Cooper, who had been listening, asked,
“Why do you need a thermometer and hygrometer?”
“Just the temperature inside the hive can tell you how much stress the bees are under.”
Harold Cooper’s expression immediately twisted.
“What did you say? Is there any basis for that?”
“Of course. If the hive maintains a temperature of roughly 34 to 36°C, it’s in a healthy state. But if it stays below 33°C for about an hour, the worker bees’ heat-retention activity declines, and larval development begins to slow.”
Brandon, standing beside us, grew curious and asked,
“What should you do at times like that?”
“You add external insulation like foam or straw, and around sunset, you reduce the hive entrance to one-third.”
I said exactly what I had seen in papers before my regression. But naturally, there were no temperature-based beekeeping manuals at this time, so Harold argued back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Ah... It’s data from a paper.”
Brandon, who didn’t care in the slightest about Harold’s bad mood, asked again,
“Then what if it’s even lower than that?”
“If it stays below 32°C for more than three hours, the larval mortality rate will spike, and the queen will stop laying eggs. At that point, you need to install a preheated pad or an electric warming mat for insulation in the center of the hive to prevent sudden die-off.”
“Hah, this is unbelievable.”
Harold’s face grew more and more crumpled, while Brandon continued asking questions.
“What about the opposite? If the temperature rises?”
“If the internal hive temperature rises above 37°C, the colony itself experiences a dehydration effect, and the proteins in the brood—the larvae—begin to denature. The queen stops laying.”
“What do you do then?”
“You install shade cloth to create shade and let the heat escape through ventilation openings. You also adjust the front of the hive to face north so as little heat as possible gets in.”
“Ah... Then when the temperature is high, you shouldn’t use smoke like this?”
“That’s right. Instead of smoke, it’s better to stabilize the hive temperature with a fine mist of water. And if you use smoke too often, moisture evaporates and the eggs can dry out. That’s why humidity is just as important as temperature. Humidity should always be maintained at 50 to 65%.”
Brandon nodded as though he understood. All while treating Harold, the beehive expert beside him, as though he were practically not there.
Harold, who had been standing still and had instantly turned into a living mannequin, sneered as if he couldn’t take it anymore.
“You want to spray water mist on the bees? Listen, I’ve been doing this for thirty years. Bees orient themselves by the smell of smoke. Water ruins their wings.”
I understood why he was agitated, but there was nothing I could do.
“That’s an old method. If you spray water into the air, it reduces heat and helps maintain humidity. Also, if smoke raises the concentration of carbon dioxide, the queen bee’s laying rate drops.”
For a moment, the buzzing in the air seemed to grow louder. The bees’ uneasy movement was visible.
Brandon, reading the room, quietly lowered the smoker. Seeing that made Harold even angrier, and he shouted.
“Young man, you don’t learn bees from books. Thermometers, hygrometers? Those are toys for a laboratory. This is work you do by the feel in your fingertips!”
I sighed and shook my head.
“Since 2006, the honeybee population across California has been plummeting. Temperature changes and stress are suspected causes, and more than half of that is due to excessive smoking. Even now, the bees are delaying laying eggs.”
“That’s what you think! The bees are decreasing? That’s because of the weather! It’s not something people can stop with their hands!”
“That’s why I’m saying we should turn it into data. Senses can be wrong, but numbers don’t lie.”
“Enough!”
Cooper threw down the smoker and shouted.
“I’m not going to stand here and be ordered around! Some worthless Asian punk... Hmph! Go ahead and see how well you do!”
Before we even had a chance to stop him, Harold stripped off all the protective gear he was wearing and stormed off.
Brandon and I stared blankly at each other.
“Well, I only need someone who can teach me properly...”
Brandon muttered, quietly lowering his gaze.