Honey Standards

[madscientist]

Where might I find the standards for honey - i.e. what I would be judged against if I were to enter my honey in a fair.

[mark]

try your local bee club or the state apiarist

[tillie]

There is a great sheet of standards on the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers's site but it is down now due to a terrible lightning storm and will probably be down for a few days.  What I have learned from talks by Welsh Honey judges:
1.  The most important thing is that the jar be completely clean inside and out (no fingerprints or anything else).  I handle my jars with latex gloves and a clean towel and don't touch them if I am planning to enter them.
2.  Fill the jar to the bottom of the screw of the jar.  Ahead of the contest fill it a little fuller to allow you to empty some if need be and cover with a plastic sheet like saran wrap with the cover screwed over that until the day of the contest.
3.  Allow the jar to settle for a long while before the contest.
4.  On the day of the contest open the jar and use a toothpick or something that will not leave a residue in the honey to remove any air bubbles that have risen to the top
5.  In a honey contest, there must be NO honey on the inside of the top of the jar, so don't remove the plastic until you are at the contest.
6.  Honey is judged on clarity and taste.  Filter it well so it will be clear.  Also it is judged on viscosity - when the jar is tilted, the bubble from the bottom of the jar must move very slowly to the top.  Most honey judges use refractometers to make sure your honey is no more than 18% water
7.  Honey is divided for contest into light, medium, and dark - most contests include a winner in each division.

Chunk honey:

In addition to the above cleanliness rules:

The chunk must fill the jar and must stand in the jar as it does in the comb - so that the cells slant slightly downward in a V.  Otherwise you will be counted off for putting it in upside down.

The fill liquid honey must come from the same batch as the comb so that the honey will be the same taste and color.

That's all I know. 

Linda T in Atlanta

[annette]

Wow Linda

I think I will stick to just giving it away to friends, but I admire you for trying this out. Must be fun to win.

Annette

[doak]

Honey standard?  I think that idea went some where in a hand basket when they started allowing additives
like corn/Karo, syrup mixed in. Then we have the artificial honey. Been to the store lately and checked labels?

Of course it wouldn't do to take something like that to the fair or a honey contest.


Honey Standard's????
Sorry don't mean to be --- what ever.
doak

[madscientist]

How about taste, aroma, etc?  I've harvested my first honey (ever) and find it much more nuanced than store-bought (which I presume is blended).  My honey also has a pronounced lingering aftertaste of what I would describe as notes of lemon and metal (the only metal my honey briefly came into contact with was a stainless steel spatula). I think it's delicious but wonder if a judge, or for that matter, a customer would also think so...
BTW, the honey is likely primarily bergamot with some gaillardia.

[madscientist]

Honey standard?  I think that idea went some where in a hand basket when they started allowing additives
like corn/Karo, syrup mixed in.

There most likely are standards for honey, in the same sense that there are standards for wines/foods or for any type of critter that you were going to enter in a judged contest - i.e. the list of attributes that define what the substance or critter should be like.
Doesn't mean that people have to follow them - look at all the crappy wines and mutts out there - but I'd still like to know what the gastronomes have decided constitutes good honey...

[tillie]

The basic answer to the question is that the bees are completely in charge of the flavor of the honey which in my mind is fantastic - both that they create something new each year and that we are not in control of that.

Consequently we are in control of two things:
1.  That we take the honey off of the hive when it is ready - ie, no more than 18% water and capped (uncapped honey often ferments)
2.  The cleanliness of the presentation of what we take off of the hive. 

Honey judging is for large part focused on presentation:  cleanliness of the jar, appearance, well-filtered, because those items ARE what the beekeeper contributes.  In the end great tasting honey often wins, but it must be presented well to do so.  This is not just a silly thing - the good presentation sets a standard for how honey should look if it is sold.

I am proud of my bees and their honey so every year I put a few bottles through the routine needed to enter them in a contest.  I feel like I am honoring their work to present it in such a way that it might win.

One of my beekeeping friends says that this year he has produced "A. W. honey"  I asked him what that was - the answer?
Award Winning honey.   I'd like to think that some of my special jars will be too.

Linda T in Atlanta

[derrick1p1]

I really enjoyed entering my honey last year.  I intend to do it again this year.  If I win, great.  If not, no biggie.  (last year got 3rd place..my first year). 

Like Tillie said, just a great way to honor the bees and to keep my standards of presentation up.  Seeing your honey jarred and sitting on the judges table waiting to be judged, was a thrill and honor.  I recommend doing it just for the fun.  Clean indentical(all filled to the screw line...no honey on inner lid) is the key.  If the honey if filtered well with < or = 18% H20, you'll be good to go.

Good luck!
Derrick