After an absence of two years the MBA Honey Show was resurrected for 2013 and took place on Saturday 26^th October at our Training Apiary, Birnie.

There was much trepidation on behalf of the Committee as, despite the excellent summer and decent honey harvest, there was no guarantee of exhibitors.

Any concerns were however allayed as the exhibitors started arriving and in total there were 14 of them, which is quite a healthy number (at the last Show held in Forres in 2010 there were only about 6 exhibitors).

Tony Harris has qualified as a Honey Judge this year and the Committee decided to invite him to judge the Show and to use the exercise as an educational tool to help the newer exhibitors.

Assisted by stewards, Anne Black and Donna Clark, the judging began and Tony explained to the audience what he was looking for in each class and gave some useful tips as he examined each exhibit.

Tony commented, ‘After stewarding at the Royal Highland Show, the Scottish National Honey Show and judging the Aberdeen Beekeepers Honey Show recently, I must say that the standard of exhibits in the Show, particularly the honey exhibits, was excellent!’

As well as the honey section there were a good number of exhibits in the baking section of the show and the quality was again good, making it difficult for the judge to choose the best exhibits.

But choose he did and the results are shown below;

Class 1: One jar (454g/1lb) of light honey

1^st T. Balch                2^nd J. Baillie               3^rd R. Clark

Class 2: One jar (454g/1lb) of medium honey

1^st J. Baillie                2^nd J. Grant                3^rd A. Tassell

Class 3: One jar (454g/1lb) of dark honey

1^st T. Balch                 2^nd J. Grant

Class 4: One jar (454g/1lb) of set honey

1^st J. Baillie                2^nd D. Clark                3^rd T. Balch

Class 5: One jar (454g/1lb) of heather honey

No entries

Class 6: One section of honey

No entries

Class 7: One piece of cut comb honey

1^st A. Tassell               2^nd A. Ritchie

Class 8: One frame of honey for extraction

1^st T. Balch                2^nd R. Lettey                3^rd A. Tassell

Class 9: One piece of wax 227 gm/8 oz min

1^st G. Ritchie             2^nd J. Baillie

Class 10: Novelty wax 3 different mouldings, includes candles

1^st J. Baillie                2^nd A. Ritchie               3^rd A. Black

John Baillie won the “Best Exhibit in Show” for his wax mouldings, pictured on the far left.

Class 11: 1 bottle of clear mead, addition of fruit is acceptable

1^st G. Ritchie

Novice Class 12: One jar (454g/1lb) of honey, any colour or type

1^st A. Ritchie                2^nd R. Clark               3^rd D. Baillie

Novice Class 13: One piece of cut comb 227g/8ozs approximately

No entries

Class 14: 4 honey buns

1^st A. Black                2^nd I. MacAndie            3^rd M. Collins

Class 15: Honey carrot cake

1^st D. Baillie               2^nd S. Hermiston

Class 16: 4 rounds of honey shortbread

1^st D. Baillie              2^nd D. Clark                3^rd S. Hermiston

Class 17: 6 small squares of honey tablet

1^st D. Baillie               2^nd R. Clark               3^rd S. Hermiston

Class 18: One colour photograph with a beekeeping theme (no larger than A4 size)

1^st D. Baillie               2^nd J. Baillie               3^rd A. Ritchie

The overall winner was John Baillie, who is pictured receiving the Steele Cup and a bottle of whisky from judge Tony Harris.

Congratulations to everyone who exhibited or helped out as the Show was a huge success and the planning of next year’s Honey Show has already started.