written by Julia Wigfield

The doors opened for staging the exhibits at 09.45 and closed ready for Judging at 11.00. We had over 170 exhibits from 26 entrants.

3 hours later, all exhibits had been duly, eaten, drank, closely examined and tasted and finally given awards.  The standard of the honey was extremely high as was the amount of exhibited.  

The best honey was given the Blue Ribbon, Best In Show, and was award to James.  

There were plenty of exhibits in the Candle and Wax classes.  The Mead class competition was very intense, with the 1^st place up against the Best in Show, the mead was won by Fiona, but pipped to the Best in Show by James.  

There were plenty of honey cakes, honey biscuits and honey candies, which I can tell you tasted delicious.  It was nice to see the Novices having a go at wax, and a jar of honey in the Novice Classes.  

We had 2 new classes this year; the Sutton Park Class, where the beekeeper had been keeping bees for 3 years or less and the Routh Challenge Class, where a shallow frame had been supplied at the AGM back in February, it had to be assembled, placed in the hive for the bees to draw out, fill with honey and cap to an even flat level to make the complete frame suitable for extraction. The entrant had to commit to exhibiting the frame regardless of condition- this class did prove to be a challenge.  

It was nice to see some lovely exhibits of photography, sections of honey, items produced from the hive, and the children were involved in the junior art class.

The Judges were very impressed with the amount of exhibits as well as the quality.  Their comments were that the exhibitor should be more generous in filling the 1lb jars so that no light can be seen below the lid, more attention to cleaning the jars, avoiding unwanted visitors in the honey, and trying to get the honey as bright and clear as possible to exhibit.  They enjoyed the show very much.

Many thanks must go to Fiona, for the organization of the Show together with her team, Becca & Izzy who arrived early to set up the show and our volunteer stewards Julia, Leonie and Todd.

Trophy Winners

James Rose Bowl – highest total points in Classes 1 to 14 – James Mundye

Larard Trophy – highest total number of points in show – Christine Clifton

Oakhurst Trophy – best medium honey – Matthew John Powell

Cowles Cup – best in gift class-  James Mundye

Walter Diaper Cup – highest points in Classes 10 and 11 – Julia Wigfield

Organ Plate – best exhibit in honey cake class – Lee Greatorex

Progress Trophy – most improved exhibitor – Fiona Mundye

Bernard Diaper Shield – best novice exhibitor – Lee Greatorex

The Sutton Park trophy – best honey by beekeeper with bees for 3 years or less – Leonie Williams

The Routh Challenge trophy – Julia Wigfield

Best in show – James Mundye

A donation of £80 will be made to St Giles Hospice from the sale of entries from the Gift Class.