The Virginia Show is most famously associated with livestock, namely the Baileys Champion Dairy cow. However, the Virginia Show has recently adopted a new competition to do with showing not livestock, but honey and its products.
This year is the fifth consecutive year a honey show took place at the Virginia Show.
Two judges from the international Federation of the Irish Beekeepers Association (FIBKA) attended, judging various products from candles made from honey wax to mead.
The Cavan Bee Keeping Association is in its 10th year and aims to promote bee keeping as a hobby.
Honey is judged similar to diamonds, according to the organisers of the event, there are criteria honey must meet like clarity, colour etc.
The winning honeycomb on the day based on suitability for extraction.
Organiser of the event, Alan Brady said: “Bee keeping provides education to the public on the importance of bees. There needs to be a greater awareness and we try and work towards that. Today’s show is also a great platform for local produce and to show off the skill demonstrated in the hobby of bee keeping”.
The honey show has gone from strength to strength in recent years increasing from 10 entries in the first year.
There are now 48 members in the Cavan Bee Keeping Association. They meet in Ballyhaise agricultural college once a month.
According to Alan: “The members consist of people who keep bees and those who don’t. A lot of our members just create the produce on display here today."
Honey has all the essential amino acids needed in a humans diet.
The importance of bees to humans
Globally there are more honey bees than other types of bee and pollinating insects, so it is the world’s most important pollinator of food crops.
It is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mainly by bees, but also by other insects, birds and bats.
There has been a global decline in the honey bee population which could have a big effect on food security.
Judges examine the honey-derived products during the honey show in Cavan on Wednesday.
Read more
Beekeeping: Keeping the honeybee alive
The Virginia Show is most famously associated with livestock, namely the Baileys Champion Dairy cow. However, the Virginia Show has recently adopted a new competition to do with showing not livestock, but honey and its products.
This year is the fifth consecutive year a honey show took place at the Virginia Show.
Two judges from the international Federation of the Irish Beekeepers Association (FIBKA) attended, judging various products from candles made from honey wax to mead.
The Cavan Bee Keeping Association is in its 10th year and aims to promote bee keeping as a hobby.
Honey is judged similar to diamonds, according to the organisers of the event, there are criteria honey must meet like clarity, colour etc.
The winning honeycomb on the day based on suitability for extraction.
Organiser of the event, Alan Brady said: “Bee keeping provides education to the public on the importance of bees. There needs to be a greater awareness and we try and work towards that. Today’s show is also a great platform for local produce and to show off the skill demonstrated in the hobby of bee keeping”.
The honey show has gone from strength to strength in recent years increasing from 10 entries in the first year.
There are now 48 members in the Cavan Bee Keeping Association. They meet in Ballyhaise agricultural college once a month.
According to Alan: “The members consist of people who keep bees and those who don’t. A lot of our members just create the produce on display here today."
Honey has all the essential amino acids needed in a humans diet.
The importance of bees to humans
Globally there are more honey bees than other types of bee and pollinating insects, so it is the world’s most important pollinator of food crops.
It is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mainly by bees, but also by other insects, birds and bats.
There has been a global decline in the honey bee population which could have a big effect on food security.
Judges examine the honey-derived products during the honey show in Cavan on Wednesday.
Read more
Beekeeping: Keeping the honeybee alive
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