Aug 22 2024
Honey Show 2024

Get Ready For The 2024 Honey Show!

The sweetest weekend of the year is almost upon us – the Inverness-shire Beekeepers' Association Honey Show takes place on 21st and 22nd September 2024 at Simpsons Garden Centre in Inverness. Read on for more information and a link to our show schedule.

Whether you're a newcomer to the wonderful world of exhibiting your wares or a veteran prize-winner with a rainbow of rosettes already strung up in your shed, we encourage you to come along and enter your honey, beeswax creations, skeps, photographs, mead, baking and more. It's a fun, friendly competition and a chance to get some well-deserved recognition for all the hard work that you and your bees have put in during this rather wet and windy season.

"Start preparing your entries now so we can make the 2024 show memorable and the best one yet... don’t have a mad rush and panic the week before the show!"

– Wise words from Charlie Moir, our Honey Show Secretary

Full details of categories and guidelines can be found in the show schedule. Judging takes place on Saturday 21st September and starts at 10am, so you need to get your entries in between 5pm and 6pm on Friday evening (20th), or between 8.30am and 9.30am on Saturday morning (21st). Members of the Honey Show team will be on hand to welcome you. We ask that you print and fill out your entry form before you arrive. The show is open to all beekeepers, and IBA members can also sell honey and hive products over the weekend.

Members can sell products at the show.
No manky lids allowed – get polishing!

Once the judging is over, exhibits must stay on their benches until 4.30pm on Sunday (22nd). Meanwhile, visitors to Simpsons can chat to beekeepers, buy local honey, try their luck at our tombola, and peer into the observation hive. Bring your family and friends... you never know, they might get a better understanding of what you actually do in that funny suit every week!

See you at the show, we hope. Good luck!

Laura Brown 0 Comments
Oct 11 2018
Honey Show 2018

The 2018 Inverness-shire Beekeepers’ Association Honey Show was held again at Simpsons Garden Centre. This is a great location with very friendly staff – and it is free! The main challenge in setting up is that we (and Simpsons!) don’t know where in the centre we will be allocated until mid-day on the day before the show as they are setting up for Christmas at this time of the year. Madness. In the end we had a super spot beside the entrance to the restaurant.

Our judge was Hugh Donohoe from Banchory, ably assisted by stewards Jed Russell and Margaret Bryant. On both days we had good teams of helpers complete with sashes to help with dealing with the public. There were 23 exhibitors with 54 entries compared with last year‘s 20 exhibitors and 56 entries.

It was encouraging to see a few new exhibitors and generally the standard was very high. No matter what the result is, everyone learns something. Beekeepers are a friendly bunch.

Des Kelly and Margaret Lashley fitted out the observation hive with live bees and a red marked queen. This is always a popular part of the show. Kay Kelly did wonderful face painting both days and not just for children’s faces.
Bryce Reynard did some skep making demonstrations at times. Simpsons provided a colouring competition for children.

Quite a few of the exhibitors were able to sell their honey to a very appreciative public and 10% of the sales money will go to the association.

Fred and Jean Millwood won the Peterkin Cup for the best honey exhibit in the show. Stella Chisholm won the new Donald Matheson Quaich for the best two jars of blossom honey and also the silver spoon for her cake as well as getting a first prize for her tablet. Margaret Bryant won the Newcomers Shield. Bryce and Elizabeth Reynard won some of the other trophies although there were few entries in some of the classes.

Gift jars of honey have been given to non-beekeeping people that have directly helped in making the show a success.
Remember to come along to the prize giving at the association Christmas Dinner at the Lochardil Hotel on Friday 23 November.

Next year we want even more exhibitors and exhibits, so start your planning now.

Mark P 0 Comments