Preparing for a Honey Show
The Association's closed honey show, held in October, is held to enable members to exhibit their produce in an informal atmosphere, we treat this as very important. We expect the invited judge to offer advice on why and why not some of the exhibits didn't reach the required National standards. He or she will be qualified to judge products to the highest standards. We do have our “favourite” judge who is now well used to our requirements in the continuing education of our members. The schedule of classes can be downloaded from here. Should you experience any difficulty with this link then this link should work. The recipes for the Devonshire Honey Cake and the Tablet can be found here. Please do not take the view that your produce couldn't possibly be good enough – you will learn by comparing your own efforts with others on display.
It helps to display your produce to its advantage and studying the photographs from previous Honey Shows will give you an idea of what can be used, and there will always be advice available. The Association has it's own “spinner” for extracting liquid honey and advice can be given, along with photographs of processing solidified OSR honey. It is important that scraps of wax are saved when inspecting your colonies as this can be melted down, strained and moulded for entry into the appropriate class. And the bonus is that after the Honey Show this wax can be converted into Foundation by submitting it to the bee equipment supplier, Thorne.
If you have a poor year there are always the Baking classes available for you to demonstrate your skills.
For the first time this year, 2022, a new trophy is available for the Novice gaining most points.