A double update for you in this blog.
Two different events for Shipston Beekeepers and members; the former is just about the last of the village shows, where we have the Shipston Beekeepers stand. The Moreton in Marsh Agricultural and Horse Show show describes itself as one of the biggest one-day agricultural shows with a number of Honey classes in the ‘Home and Garden schedule that some of our members entered. We have had the Shipston Stand at the Moreton show in the past but the logistics of having to set it up the day before the show have proved to be too challenging for us recently.
Whichford Show
David and Margery Blower led on this show with a lot of help from the hard working Mike Clarke.
It’s a small show which is always well attended. Our stand had a lot of visitors with one couple showing interest in becoming members. The stand had environmentalists either side – one with snakes, reptiles etc and they had a very interesting ‘show’ which people flocked to.
The observations hive, with Mike’s expert explanations, as always drew a crowd:
Photo Credit: Margery Blower
(PS: The table cloth that we use for these shows, that has Shipston Beekeepers embroidered onto it, was missing from the container in which it is normally kept. If anyone knows where it might be please let me know.)
Moreton In Marsh Agricultural and Horse Show
The village shows we have had to date are fairly local whilst the Moreton show is much bigger and hence with a lot of serious competition in the Honey classes. Honey is also graded for this show, thus for example an entry into the ‘light honey’ class is checked against the grading glasses by the Honey Judge, John Coates.
Thus any position at this show is well earned.
The Moreton show has the Cyril Tebb Memorial Trophy, awarded for the highest aggregate points across all the honey classes (honey cake through to ‘other hive products’).
All photos credit: Graham Franklin