Last year my mother- who was a first year beekeeper- entered flow hive honey into the Adelaide Royal Show. She won two second place ribbons. Armed with that success we entered this year- and what do you know: we won again!
This time I entered my mid range amber mixed flora honey into the novice beekeeper and the main raw honey categories- and mum entered her creamed and candied honey. Mum won for the candied honey: first place! I won first place in the novice category and second place in the main one! This year they had more entrants than in previous years- I think new flow hive owners were a part of that- certainly at the bee society their membership is up over previous years.
Perhaps it was hubris- but my honey was SO GOOD this spring- I felt quite confident when I entered it- itās one thing to be confident- but itās another thing altogether to get the tick of approval from seasoned honey judges!
I will post some pics after the show. If anyone in SA is going to the Show be sure to go check out the honey- they have a nice display- with combs of honey, wax products, etc.
Congratulations. Itās interesting to know that there are more beekeepers, and I suspect it is the FlowHive that has brought more people to beekeeping - it certainly brought me.
Iām interested to know what your motherās ācreamed and candiedā honey is all about. I was gifted some ācreamedā honey from Hawaii with instructions on how to convert regular honey to creamed. However, it seemed to involve heating and straining the honey before adding the starter. I donāt like the idea of heating it (or straining for that matter).
The ācandiedā honey requires nothing other than leaving it alone. It is just the natural crystallization process. As to the creaming- it is basically the same- only you use an extremely fine crystal as the āseedā to start the process resulting in a very smooth candied honey. As to heating and straining- you donāt need to strain the honey if it is already relatively clean- I donāt think mum does but I am not totally sure. Flow honey is already quite clear and often doesnāt need any strainingā¦
And if you do heat it it is only very gently warmed to dissolve any larger crystals before you add your fine crystal seedā¦the temperature does not need to be very highā¦ In fact- honey that has been very finely strained- and heated to higher temperatures- does not readily candy at all- and thatās how much of the honey sold in supermarkets is treated to stop it from solidifying on the shelfā¦
Thank you for your response. I think I want to try some of the creamed honey using the honey from Hawaii as the starter. I have some honey that has crystalized on the shelf, so Iām thinking I will just put it out in the sunshine to re-liquify and then strain it through my finest filter (which I have never used before) then forget about the heating part and add the starter and see what happens. I donāt like the idea of heating it. It is only for the novelty of having the āspreadableā honey that I want to try it. The stuff I got from Hawaii is lovelyā¦creamy and white. Interested in what mine might do. Cheers!
No worries. You can also make āseedā from any crystallized honey by grinding it in a mortar and pestle until you canāt feel the individual crystals in your tongue.
I donāt think gently warming honey does it any harm at all- we are only talking warming it to around 35-40 c. This is the temperature range inside the hiveā¦
I actually bought 5 plants at an estate auction- and since then I have taken 15 cuttings from them. I am going to keep cutting and cutting them until I have them everywhere. They flower constantly, the bees love them, they are easy to grow. Cuttings root in a week in a glass of water- so easy. Plus they look good, smell good and you can cook with the leaves.
If you are in adelaide- I could possibly spare a cutting in month or so when they build up.
Hi. Yes Iām in Adelaide, in Aberfoyle Park. Actually Iāll be in Semaphore
next Sat !6th for my daughters wedding at Glanville Hall, but I suppose
thatās not the right time.
Neil
and all raw, unheated- pretty much straight from the hive
