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:

Class 8:

Class 9:

Class 10?:

Class 11?:

Class 12:

Class 14:

Class 15:

Class 16:

Class 17:



Class 18:



Class 19:



Class 20:



Class 23:




Class 24:




Class 25:




Class 26:




Class 27: 


Class 28:




Class 29:





Class 31:




Class 32: ??:




Class 33:





Class 34:





Class 35:





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/


Some photos from our previous honey shows