PREPARING HONEY FOR SHOW
Dorian Pritchard
In recent years there has been a decline in submissions of entries by Hexham BKA into local honey shows, with a consequent decline in the shows themselves. That is to be regretted, as a good display of local honey is rewarding to see. The following is a summary of the points I made in a lecture to HBKA in February, 2017, which I hope may help members enter their honey in shows and keep this ancient tradition alive.
Why do we have honey shows?
The main purpose of honey shows is to establish and reinforce high standards in local honey production.
They also raise the public profile of beekeeping.
They can present a good image of local beekeeping associations.
They are valuable in recruitment of new members.
They can be fun – if you don’t take them too seriously.
Local honey shows
Blanchland
Slaley
Wolsingham
St John’s Chapel
Stanhope
Bellingham
ElsdonVillage Fete
Warkworth
All local shows are held in late summer, but rather too early for the current heather honey harvest.
Some examples of honey show schedules
BLANCHLAND
August Bank Holiday Monday
One Section Heather Honey or Flower Honey.
Two jars of Flower Honey (any colour).
Two jars Heather Honey.
Shallow Frame – Heather or Flower Honey.
The Basil Waller Perpetual Challenge Cupis awarded to the exhibitor with the most points overall.
The Jackson Perpetual Challenge Cupis awarded to the exhibitor with the best shallow frame or comb.
WOLSINGHAM AND WEARVALLEY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 236TH ANNUAL SHOW
The first Sunday in September.
(2016 was the252nd year since the first cattle show in 1763!)
Section of honey – any type.
Whole frame of honey – any type.
Two jars of set or creamed honey.
Two jars of light honey.
Two jars of medium honey.
Two jars of dark honey.
Three x 1lb/454g jars honey in any 3 varieties.
The Colin Weightman Cupis awarded to the exhibitor gaining most points overall.
BELLINGHAM
The last Saturday in August.
Two matching jars of run (liquid) honey.
Two matching jars of set honey.
One shallow frame (in a bee-proof case).
Children’s section
A painting about bees or beekeeping (9 years and under).
A painting about bees or beekeeping (10-15 years).
An item of food made using honey, along with the recipe (9 years and under).
An item of food made using honey, along with the recipe (10 -15 years).
What the judge is looking at or for.
Smart appearance of jars, lids, boxes, frames, etc.
Do containers contain the correct weight?
Colour, clarity and general appearance of honey; in run honey, absence of particulate matter.
Damage to jar top or inside of lid; froth or scum?
Aroma on first opening jar.
Viscosity of honey.
Taste intensity, quality and range of flavours. Does it feel “like a firework display going off in your head”?
“Off tastes” and odours.
“Off tastes” and odours sometimes found in honey.
Metal
Burnt wax
Caramel
Alcohol
Brood
Unpleasant nectar, e.g. Privet
Vinegar, jam, etc. from old jars
Molasses from silage
Honeydew
Creosote or paint
Added scents or flavours
Basic considerations for getting and storing good honey
Identify and use the best apiary site(s).
Use local bees.
Do not use chemicals in the hive, especially when honey is being gathered. [NB: the toxic chemicals in Apistan and Bayvarol accumulate in beeswax.]
Extract and process honey with minimal heat.
Store your honey in glass, stainless steel or food-grade white plastic containers.
Keep air spaces in containers small.
Store honey at room temperature or below, away from sunlight and pests.
Apiary sites
By their pollinating activities, bees do their own gardening, so the best site is often where bees have been kept previously.
Propagate good forage – sycamore, dandelion, pussy willow, single-flowered cherries, limes, etc.
Remove the flowers of bad-tasting or poisonous forage, such as Privet and Rhododendron.
Take your hives to abundant good forage, such as Rape, Heather, Rosebay, Phacelia, Balsam.
NB: do not take hives to the now very rare upland meadows that are vital for the survival of rare bumble and solitary bees.
Equipment considerations
Foundation
drone/worker
grade of wax
thickness
wired/unwired
for sections, orientation within frame
Sections
assembly
suspension in hive
one or two years to fill?
display boxes
Jars
Preferably 1lb, squat, traditional, undecorated, no flaws in glass, new
Lids screw-on, lacquered, unscratched, new
Honey extraction
Uncapping
avoid melting wax.
Spinning
OK if wired,use grid supports if unwired.
use spinner of approved materials; observe safety precautions.
Filtering
gentle warming improves fluidity.
dampen cloths to break surface tension.
use suction through filter if necessary (c.f. a Büchner flask)
Settling tank.
Removal of surface debris with ClingFilm.
Pouring without entrapping air.
Storage in full containers to avoid loss of aroma.
Clarification in warming cabinet or microwave. For the latter, remove the metal jar lid and set the microwave to “Low”, or “30%” for minimal time.
Coping with Oil-Seed Rape
Particular problems of OSR are itsrapid crystallization, poor or unpleasant taste andwidespread presence in the fields.
The “Dawn Raid”: insert clearer board before the first foragers return, spin out honey and return “empties” to hive.
Melt out crystallised honey at 51°C without melting wax.
Filter rapidly.
Crystal seeding and creaming to prevent it solidifying.
Bottling while still fluid.
Coping with LingHeather (Caluna vulgaris)
Particular problems of Ling Heather
Ling flowers late (August onwards), when colonies tend to be in decline.
Its honey is thixotropic.
Its flowering coincides with the grouse shooting season.
Apiary sites are often remote and vulnerable to theft.
The moors can be cold and wet, even in August.
Hives need to be lifted and transported; they can be very heavy at their return.
Solutions to Heather problems
In preparation
Stimulate egg laying at the end of June to increase foraging force in August.
Combine brood boxes in pairs.
Reorganise brood to a single box with capped comb in the middle; eject surplus combs.
Remove all varroa strips, etc.
Fit super comb with 1-inch starter strips or thin foundation.
Remove queen excluder.
Consider frame spacing method; place comb protectors between frames.
Add top insulation if not already on.
On site
Take your colonies to the moors before Aug.12th, when grouse shooting starts.
On site, wear camouflage clothing; hide hives.
Place hives on sheltered, sunny slopes, facing SE, downhill from blooming heather.
Use only one super per hive, unless the colony and conditions are truly exceptional.
Space out shallow combs as they fill.
The harvest
Place comb intended to be kept intact in deepfreeze for 48 hrs to destroy wax moth eggs and larvae.
Consider completing unfinished sections next year.
For cut comb, locate well capped areas, cut with comb cutter or knives, preserving horizontal orientation of comb pattern.
Extraction, three methods:
Use honey press, filtering through scrim.
Spin out from frames after use of comb agitator.
Cut comb from frames, warm gently, mash and drain through sieve.
How to prepare your honey for show – and win prizes
Consider retaining samples for show, especially good comb, as you are harvesting your crop.
Enter samples in every class if possible, with two or more entries in any class.
Wash jars and lids, check them for “water spots”.
Check lids for internal damage.
Fill jars by pouring honey down inside walls, avoid entrapping air.
Check colour of honey (light, medium or dark) with grading glasses if in doubt.
Ensure insides of lids are clean.
Wipe honey smears off outsides of jars and lids with a damp, clean cloth, then polish with a soft, dry cloth.
Clean wooden edges of sections and frames by scraping with a knife.
Check outsides of boxes and cases for honey smears.
Position your entries well on the table.
Retain your samples for additional shows that year.
Consider retaining (3 jars of) your best samples for resubmission (of 2) next year (you may need to top up jars).
Conclusion
Don’t be discouraged if at first you don’t win tickets or cups.
Show standards do not coincide with those for marketing honey, but you can be sure your customers will appreciate any efforts to establish and maintain high standards.
Pass these ideas on to other beekeepers.
Good luck!