Honey Show
What happens at a Honey Show?
Honey shows are a great way to meet beekeepers and learn more about bees and beekeeping. Beekeepers and other entrants make their submissions to the Honey Show competitions on the morning of the event. There are different types and classes of honey, honey cakes, mead, artwork and much more. Once all the submissions are in, judging commences. We welcome everyone - beekeeper or not- to the competitions. See the section below for more details of how to enter.
While the judging is happening we host beekeeping talks and demonstrations in the Main Hall. For novices and those getting into beekeeping there are experienced beekeepers on hand to quiz. And if you are already a beekeeper, there are talks on more advanced subjects to increase your beekeeping knowledge.
Remember - you don't have to be a beekeeper to come along, or take part in our competitions. We will be announcing our 2023 Honey Show date shortly.
2022 Honey Show
(Postponed and held in January 2023)
Honey Show Report
Three Rivers Beekeepers would like to thank everyone who came along to our 2022 Honey show and made it such a huge success. We had a record number of entries for our competitions - in total 214 across 35 classes. The winners are listed below. The quality of the honey entries was outstanding. And in the non-honey classes, entries in the creative classes of art, photography, creative display and baking were particularly impressive.
The winners of the honey classes were a great mix of experienced and novice beekeepers. And we thank our friends from Mayo and across Northern Ireland who came to add some friendly banter and competition.
The talks on ‘Propolis’ by Ulster Beekeepers’ Association Chair, John Hill and '‘It’s not all about the ladies’ by Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Association Senior Lecturer, Ethel Irvine' were very well received and attended. Fran Benton, PhD student, invited beekeepers to learn more about her project on bee genetics.. And a special thank you to our novice beekeeper, Colin Maguire, who shared his experiences in starting out on his beekeeping journey.
We also extend our thanks to the CPI Centre in Castlefinn for hosting us in their fantastic venue, McGlynns of Castlefinn for providing the catering, and all the volunteers who helped before, during and after the show to keep it all on the road.
Finally, a big thank you to all our sponsors who made the event possible.
We look forward to seeing everyone for our 2023 Honey Show later this year.
2022 Honey Show Photos
Competition Entries - Honey Categories
Competition Entires - Non Honey Categories
Honey Show 2022 - Competition Winners
Class 1:
6 Jars of honey, any type or colour, matching, as offered for sale, in either 227g, 340g or 454g jars
1st: Colin McGuire
2nd: Marcus O'Neill
3rd: Gary MCConnell
Very Highly Commended: Barney Coyle
Highly Commended: Veronica and Paul McNulty
Class 2
3 jars of honey, each of a different type, any combination e.g., light, medium, dark, chunk, set, ling heather, in matching 340g or 454g jars
1st: Des Devine
2nd: Kathleen Devine
Class 3:
6 jars of honey, any type or colour, in matching 340g or 454g jars
1st: Des Devine
2nd: Kathleen Devine
Class 4:
2 jars of honey, light, in matching 340g or 454g jars
1st: Kathleen Devine
2nd: Colin McGuire
3rd: Des Devine
Very Highly Commended: Lexie Duncan
Highly Commended: Frank Chaney
Class 5:
2 jars of honey, medium, in matching 340g or 454g jars
1st: Kathleen Devine
2nd: Frank Chaney
3rd: Richard Thompson
Very Highly Commended: Lexie Duncan
Highly Commended: Kevin Barron
Class 6:
6 Jars of honey, any type or colour, matching, as offered for sale, in either 227g, 340g or 454g jars
1st: Colin Maguire
2nd: Marcus O'Neill
3rd: Gary MCConnell
Very Highly Commended: Barney Coyle
Highly Commended: Veronica and Paul McNulty
Class 7:
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Class 10?:
Class 11?:
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Class 32: ??:
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Honey Show Competition - Schedule and Judges
We welcome honey show judges: Gail Orr and Tom Canning
Competition categories and details
For a copy of the Honey Show Schedule and Entry Form, use the buttons below to download, or email us at threeriversbees1@gmail.com. We recommend sending entry forms in advance, although we will have some available on the morning of the event.
Honey Show and Conference Programme
Honey Show - (White Room)
09:00 to 12:30 Honey show exhibits accepted
13:00 Judging commences
Conference Programme - Main Hall
14:00 Welcome Address by Three Rivers PRO, Leah Fairman
14:10 Bee talk 1 - ‘Propolis’ by Ulster Beekeepers’ Association Chair, John Hill
15:00 Fran Benton, PhD student
15:15 Refreshments, bee chat, opportunity to view stalls and see Judges at work
16:00 Bee talk 2 - ‘It’s not all about the ladies’ by Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Association Senior Lecturer, Ethel Irvine
16:45 Experiences of a new beekeeper
17:00 Presentation of prizes
Directions to the Honey Show
By Car
Address: CPI Centre, Knockrawer, Castlefinn, Co. Donegal F93 T254
Free parking available on site
By Bus
Details of bus timetables can be found at https://www.transportforireland.ie/