Beekeeping Demonstrated at the South Carolina State Fair

The Cantey Building at the South Carolina State Fair is dedicated to teaching the non-farming public about agriculture. The South Carolina Beekeepers Association is demonstrating bee health, beekeeping and honey judging in their booth in the Cantey Building and Danny Cannon, beekeeper and member of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association explains how honey is judged:

“Honey is based on appearance for judging purposes. It literally has to be perfect in appearance, a spec or an air bubble will cast it aside. It’s not about the taste.
 

Comb honey is a very special part of honey sales. Very few people do anymore because there is not a lot of demand for it. So you see a lot more extracted honey than comb honey.
 

We are a local farm and sell honey to the stores in the area so we were asked to volunteer a few days and sell honey here. There is always a lot of interest here about the honey and the bees.
 

We have a live hive here to demonstrate to folks who come by. It’s an observation hive that we use to explain more hands on about the bees. They can function very well with the interior feed that has been put in there along with the breather holes. You can see the workings and how they operate. They are doing the same things that they would do out in nature except they are not going out to find food.
 

It’s a great attention getter for the kids that come by. They like to look for the queen.
 

People should stop by and get some education on bees. They are important to our food supply and people.”