#localhoney — Public Fediverse posts

On this show, I talk about the rise and fall of my idea for a local honey marketplace with a side journey into a disappointing talk about technology.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, March 20 2026.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Support this show on Patreon
• Blackwater Beekeepers
• My nerd persona Mastodon account
• My science fiction persona Mastodon account
• Auphonic podcast production tool is so good!
• Theme song provided by the Gentle Readers

You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don't forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

New post for sponsors
How is fake or adulterated honey identified? How do the fraudsters escape detection, and what novel methods might allow adulterated honey to be identified in the future?
https://theapiarist.org/fake-news/
#beekeeping #honey #localhoney

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Don't put up with bad-tempered bees. Re-queen them, either with a purchased queen or one you have reared. There are simple ways to improve your stocks that yield long-term benefits.
https://theapiarist.org/simple-stock-improvement/
#beekeeping #localhoney

New post for sponsors
Using the term 'raw' on your honey labels, Winnie the Pooh, court cases and inadequacies in the honey regulations. The prosecution rests m'lud.
https://theapiarist.org/raw-honey/
#beekeeping #localhoney #rawhoney #notguilty

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How to keep hive numbers to a manageable number, whatever that number is. Balancing the needs of swarm control and replacement of winter losses with the time, energy, equipment and enthusiasm available.
https://theapiarist.org/enough-bees/
#localbees #beekeeping #localhoney

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Expensive, versatile and really useful, at least they are if they are well-designed and manufactured. Some of the current models are good, but none are close to perfect.
https://theapiarist.org/the-perfect-poly-nuc/
#beekeeping #localhoney

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And then there were two. What happens when you split a colony into two? Why might ‘walk away splits’ not be the best way of increasing colony numbers?
https://theapiarist.org/doing-the-splits/
#beekeeping #localhoney #localbees

How do eggs appear in places the queen cannot reach? Do these eggs produce worker or drone brood? If bees can move eggs, can they move them to queen cells?
https://theapiarist.org/do-bees-move-eggs/
#beekeeping #localhoney #localbees

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Recent research on the maternal effect in honey bees suggests queen rearing using worker larvae may produce undersized and underperforming queens.
https://theapiarist.org/bigger-queens-better-queens-part-1/
#localbees #localhoney #beekeeping

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By all means count the natural mite drop of a colony, but be aware of the limitations of the method and the many things that influence the count.
https://theapiarist.org/natural-mite-drop/
#beekeeping #localhoney

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Should beginners get one or two colonies? The standard advice is ‘get two’, but I think three colonies by the end of year two gives better security, more opportunities to experiment, and a faster route to gaining valuable experience.
https://theapiarist.org/beekeeping-backup
#localhoney #beekeeping

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Heather honey is thixotropic and requires special treatment when extracting. Here’s my experience with the Speidel Hydropress … no more tedious crushing and straining for me!

https://theapiarist.org/under-pressure-the-speidel-hydropress/

#beekeeping #localhoney

I bought some local honey today, one blackberry and one lavender blossom, and oh man they're both so so good, and distinctly different from one another

Thx to the bees 😌 🐝🩵

#localhoney #honey #food #localfood #cooking

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How difficult is beekeeping? Learning curves, Dunning-Kruger, gentle introductions and future challenges … together with some enforced supersedure, mice and fainting queens.

https://theapiarist.org/shallow-learning-curves/

#beekeeping #localhoney #dunningkrugereffect #learningcurve

Time for some #chamomile #tea with local orange blossom honey. 🍯 🐝 This mug makes me miss home.

#LocalHoney #Knoebels #Homesick #Pennsylvania

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Think laterally, use your imagination, hoard stuff … there’s lots you can repurpose to make both your beekeeping and bank balance better. And it’s something to fill the months until the season starts.

https://theapiarist.org/repurposed/

#beekeeping #localhoney #carefulnotmean

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New and old honey bee viruses. Are these a cause for concern in our bees, or for bees they share the environment with? Facts, suspicions, omissions and reality.
https://theapiarist.org/a-tale-of-two-viruses/
#beekeeping #localhoney #virus

Weather, nucs, queens, swarms and wax. A potpourri of topics that have entertained me while waiting for the heather flow to start … if it starts.
https://theapiarist.org/summer-doldrums/
#beekeeping #localhoney #weather #heather

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Why do bees collect pollen of only one type when foraging? Why do they forage repeatedly in the same area? What has coffee got to do with this?

https://theapiarist.org/coffee-constancy-and-fidelity/

#beekeeping #localhoney #espresso

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Hive inspections, receiver bees and the complexity and inherent errors of the waggle dance. Lots to think about as the nectar flow (finally) starts.
https://theapiarist.org/dancing-in-the-dark/
#beekeeping #waggledance #localhoney #Science

One of the many reasons to care about pollinators. Local honey.

There's nothing like local, raw, unfiltered honey.
*This is not a paid endorsement*

We've had this jar for a while and I only just started putting it in my tea. Hard to believe the taste difference. Yummy! 😋

Support Local Businesses.

#LocalHoney #honey #ruddlebeeshoney #ruddlebees #rawhoney #unfilteredhoney #nature #bees #bee #pollinators #garden #bees🐝 #SupportLocalBusinesses #SupportSmallBusinesses #ShopLocal #food #nutrition

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A few tips and tricks for first inspections; what to do (and what not to do) about brace comb, supering and queen reintroduction.
https://theapiarist.org/ready-steady-go/
#beekeeping #bees #localhoney

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How can you provide information about the origin and authenticity of your local honey? Labelling, logic and some geekery.

https://theapiarist.org/provenance/

#localhoney #beekeeping #geekery #qrcode #honey

Fake news. All tested UK honey exports to the EU were ‘suspicious’ as were almost 50% of EU honey imports. Honey adulteration and the global trade in fake honey.

https://theapiarist.org/adultery/

#localhoney #fakehoney #bees #beekeeping

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Moving hives in winter, the reduced (or not) longevity of honey bees and the benefits of sunflowers. Surely there’s something that interests you here?

https://theapiarist.org/memory-longevity-and-sunflowers/

#Beekeeping #localhoney #memory #sunflowers #longevity #bees

Foundation is getting more expensive. Try foundationless frames; save money and reduce miticide contamination in your hives.

https://theapiarist.org/foundationless-frames-redux/

#bees #beekeeping #beekeeper #apiarist #localhoney #varroa #honeybees

NEW POST: The science of identity ... how guard bees recognise nestmates, why drifting bees are accepted into other hives and why robbers are only sometimes rejected.

https://theapiarist.org/you-are-what-you-eat/

#bees #beekeeping #beekeeper #apiarist #localhoney #varroa #honeybees

NEW POST: The season is approaching, but it’s not here yet. Don’t be misled by social media. Do your preparations for the good times ahead and the reinforcements, revisions, reversals and revelations.

https://theapiarist.org/good-times-ahead/

#bees #beekeeping #beekeeper #apiarist #localhoney #varroa #honeybees