On Saturday, the Wiltshire Beekeepers Association enjoyed its most popular Bee & Honey Day to date.
Held annually at the Devizes Corn Exchange, nearly 500 people attended the event, with nearly 200 entries to the County Honey Show. Visitors enjoyed lectures on beekeeping, as well as mead-tasting and sampling the Honey Days Beer brewed specially by Wadworth for the day using local honey and delivered by the Wadworth shire horses.
Entries to the show came from beekeepers from Salisbury to Swindon and from Marlborough to Trowbridge in classes ranging from clear honey to honeycomb, and from candles and flowers made from beeswax to mead.
The British Beekeepers Association National Honey Judges – Hazel Blackburn, Suzy Perkins and Michael Duffin – had their hands full trying to choose between competitors who had clearly taken a lot of trouble to make their entries as perfect as they could.
In the end, Chris Rawlings, a beekeeper from Southwick near Trowbridge, walked away with the Methuen Cup, which is awarded to the individual with the most points in all classes. Martin McDermott from near Warminster was awarded the Norman Lovegrove Memorial Trophy for the best bottle of mead in the show. He also won the David Wick Cup for the best frame of honey for extraction. Siân Sims from Steeple Aston was ecstatic when she was awarded the Novice Cup for the best jar of honey by someone new to beekeeping. The much-coveted Applegate Trophy for the Wiltshire branch with the most points in the show was kept, once again, by the Trowbridge-based West Wiltshire branch.
Councillor Judy Rose, Mayor of Devizes, judged the open classes – A Bee Made Out of Vegetables and/or Fruit, won by pupils from Rowdeford School, and Three Cup Cakes Decorated with Bee Theme, won by Katie Bollen (9), while Annabel Bollen (6) came second. Both attend Dauntsey Academy Primary School.
Mayor Judy Rose said: ‘It was a fascinating day which both Councillor Chris Gay and I enjoyed very much.’
Richard Rickitt from Melksham and deputy editor of Bee Craft, the UK’s leading beekeeping magazine, gave an introductory talk to around 100 people thinking of taking up beekeeping as hobby.
Lynfa Davis, a Master Beekeeper based in west Wales spoke to a packed audience about honeycomb and how and why bees make it, as well as on honey bee communication. Norman Carreck, who carries out research at the University of Sussex on bee breeding and pesticides and bees, spoke on the future for local bees in Britain to more enthusiastic beekeepers and members of the public.
Meanwhile, over 60 children enjoyed themselves rolling a beeswax candle while their parents browsed the stalls selling bee-related gifts, honey and candles. Scores of people visited the Wessex Water stand, headline supporters of the event, to find out more about how visiting green spaces can help improve health and wellbeing. And, Avalon Vineyard and Lyme Bay Winery offered visitors the chance to taste their delicious specialty neads.
The event was also supported by Corsham Printers of Corsham, which printed the marketing materials for free.
