We encourage our members to enter their honey and other hive products into a local or national honey show. Preparing for a show is a great way to improve your beekeeping skills and your product presentation. There are a number of opportunities for members to showcase their products throughout the year:
- County Fairs: the Prince William County (PWC) Fair in August holds an annual honey show that is great as a first-time show. Check out the PWC Fair & Honey Show page for more information. There are many county fairs with honey shows. See a list of VA fairs here
- State Fairs: the Virginia State Fair in the Fall offers a larger and more traditional honey show than our local county fair. Entries may be required to be submitted in multiples (such as 3 jars for each class) and well-defined judging criteria is posted. Preregistration is typically required, check out the State Fair of Virginia website for more details.
- EAS Honey Show: The Eastern Apicultural Society holds an annual conference in July or August that typically includes a honey show. Visit the EAS website for more details.
Honey Show Prep & Tips
The Virginia based ApiSolutions Consortium has many resources for excellence in honey and hive products, preparing products for the honey show and judging honey shows. Presentations and videos are available on the site