Most beekeepers admit that aiming for a good honey crop is a significant part of their beekeeping. It doesn’t matter if you are selling the honey, giving it away or eating it yourself. The quality of the honey is all important.

The Honey Show gives us a chance to show off our own products, to compare our efforts with those of our fellow beekeepers and to learn from each other how we can all improve.

This year we have made a change to our Honey Show rules which I hope will encourage more members to enter. In previous years we have had a novice class which we have used to encourage new beekeepers to enter. It has never been entirely clear as to whether this is confined to members in their first year of beekeeping or their first two years.

We have re-defined the novice class to bring it in line with the definition used in national and regional honey shows and we have introduced a new class explicitly for new beekeepers. The changes are:

Any type of honey, liquid or set, may be entered in the Novice Class but the rules of entry are exactly the same as for the major classes. Two identical 1 lb. jars must be entered.

The full Honey Show rules and entry form are included with October's newsletter. I would like to highlight a few points though.

Honey Show Schedule

The Annual Honey Show for the Mid Bucks Beekeepers will be held on Wednesday 15th October 2008 at the Bowls Club, Dobbins Lane, Wendover. Judging will start at 7:30 pm and exhibits must be inplace by 7:15 pm.

1. 2 - 1lb jars of light honey

2. 2 - 1lb jars of medium honey

3. 2 - 1lb jars of dark honey

4. 2 - 1lb jars of crystallised honey

5. 2 - 1lb jars of soft set (creamed) honey

6. 1 frame of capped honey, may be granulated

7. 1 carton of cut comb, judged by appearance only

8. 1 bottle of mead

9. 2 beeswax candles in holders. Candles may be made by any method (please note the judge will light one of the candles to ensure that it burns properly)

10. 1 cake of wax 7-9 oz weight

11. 1 honey fruit cake - see recipe below

12. New Beekeepers class: 1 - 1lb jar of honey from classes 1 - 5. Members may enter who have kept bees for no longer than 2 seasons.

13. Novice class: 2 -1lb jars of honey from classes 1 - 5. Members may enter who have never won a first prize in any class at any level of honey show (excluding New Beekeepers and novelty classes).

14. Novelty product to amuse the judge

15. On a plate, 9 small honey sweets, 8 of which have been quartered for sampling by members

16. A bee-related photograph

17. An unusual use for an item of beekeeping