[New post] Not so much what to buy, as how to choose what to buy, so that it's useful and usable for years … together with a couple of luxuries to make your early foray into beekeeping easier and more enjoyable.
https://theapiarist.org/equipment-for-beginners-part-2/
#beekeeping

I just emailed the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to clarify a question that arose in the #beekeeping class this week.

You need a special certificate and special handling for honey to be sold to businesses or wholesaled in this state. If you are selling direct to consumer and handle less than 4800 lbs annually, you can apply for an exemption.

The question is this: if I make 1 lb jars packaged for the consumer and consign them at another business, which situation is it? Some people think the former because a 3rd party business is selling it. I think the latter because it is not wholesaling where you sell it all at once and then the store owns the goods and gives you all the money.

It is seldom in life you run across such a complete coin flip situation. I believe both interpretations are completely valid and with some merit. It comes down to which words in this ambiguous legislation are the key ones: "business" or "wholesale" ?

The good news: I found exactly what I'd like for my local honey marketplace project

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=100828046

The bad news: It isn't a real thing, it is a description of desired functionality in Apache's OFBiz project and was last touched 7 years ago.

#ofbiz #apachefoundation #beekeeping

How to keep bees like a scientist - Honey Bee Suite https://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-to-keep-bees-like-a-scientist/#h-shredding-papers-word-by-word #beekeeping #science #logic #scientificthinking

TF2 Heavy voice: nomnomnom #beekeeping

#weeklyreview 10/2026

Spring seems finally here. Bees are out and about and we enjoyed a good run in the Tierpark at full sunshine. First instalment of the Digital Independence Day in the Uckermark went really well.

The Bees Knees

The bees are out and about #Uckermark #beekeeping #bees @falko

Both of our hives apparently survived the winder which saw temperatures below -15º C. While our lakes are still frozen the sun is out and we saw temperatures approaching 17º C.

Digital Independence Day – Uckermark

Good turn out for the first Digital Independence Day of the #Uckermark today. We had about 13 people attending the first gathering, and they were listening closely to what we had to say about social media and independent alternatives to the large commercial offerings there. Also, funny enough, there were questions about how to move to Linux from Windows systems, as Microsoft keeps nagging people that their hardware is no longer supported. Apparently they’re doing a really good job of pissing people off and pushing them towards alternatives. #diday

Looking forward to the next session. Unfortunately I’ll be away on the next official day. But we don’t know yet whether there is enough interest to meet on easter Sunday. We might move by one or two weekends.

Run boy, run!

Nice run with my friend Jan through the Tiergarten park. Weird running at full sunshine and spring like temperature but the canals and ponds in the park are all still frozen. And we saw a Mastodon sticker out in the wild

Känguru Rebellion

The new book by famous German author Marc-Uwe Kling is out. He’s one of the founding artists of the Digital Independence Day movement. I also watched his talk at the 39C3 where he introduced the idea of the Digital Independence Day. Funny and inspiring.

2026-03-07 13:23:39

First lunch out on the terrace in 2026 🙌😎 @falko #uckermark

Getting rid of the Christmas trees of the last two years .

cooking outside.

The fondant is slowly disappearing.

#beekeeping #apiary #March7 #bees #HiveAlive

The bees are finding pollen and all the hives are busy bringing it in.

#beekeeping #bees #HoneyBees #bee #apiary #March7 #spring #BeeMovie #

Dayum, this was messy. #beekeeping

Spring cleaning #beekeeping

Also, what a mess, and it's mostly my fault, but it's getting better.

[New post] Starvation and free-living colonies. Avoiding the former in managed colonies, and finding the latter. There's no time like the present to do both these pre-season things 😄.
https://theapiarist.org/if-you-go-down-to-the-woods-today/
#beekeeping

The bees like the HiveAlive fondant.

#beekeeping #apiary #March6 #bees #HiveAlive #OneHundredThree

I suppose putting some fondant on a hive counts as beekeeping. This is on the center hive and it felt the lightest when tipping them up from the back. It seems to carry a full box of bees or more through the winter and eats everything before there's any nectar.

#beekeeping #apiary #March5 #bees #HiveAlive

Buying #beekeeping equipment for this spring: holy crap wax is expensive.

5kg of wax (just for the base structure of the hive) will last me throughout half this year, and costs a punch.

I need to learn to extrude wax myself D:

The bees are out and about #Uckermark #beekeeping #bees @falko

Our girls made it through this hard winter.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wJonKQi5dhY
#bees #honeybees #beekeeping #honigbienen #impker #apiary #insect #beneficialinsects #pollinators

[New post] Beekeeping can be expensive when starting. Avoid being “all the gear, no idea”. Buy the basics, and buy things that will remain usable and useful for decades. Part 1 of 2, with homework for readers 😄 .
https://theapiarist.org/equipment-for-beginners-part-1/
#beekeeping

Whoohoo, just checked my two hives and both colonies have survived the winter and are healthy!

One colony's docile and not looking great at the end of the year. One agressive colony, started strong, remained strong.

#beekeeping

The hazels have pollen and the bees are collecting it and bringing it back to the hives today.

#beekeeping #bees #pollen #beehive #February27 #apiary #BeeMovie #pollinators