 The Rivers Honey are having a show, it's the Honey Show, as you'd expect I suppose. It's coming Sunday, it's in Castle Finn, CPI Centre in Castle Finn. You think you know Honey, well you're wrong because you need to go along to find out all about it and there's a lot more to Honey than you might think there's going to be exhibits and there's judging on various honnys and products made with Honey and then there's a conference in the afternoon and talks about bees and swamps. One of the organisers is Colin McGuire who joins us now and we're streaming online as well. Colin, how are you? I'm good. I thought I knew Honey when I had a wee squeezy one at home and I put it into the odd stir fry and then at every swap I used to buy a Manuka honey whenever the you know whenever the cold and flu season would come around and I used to buy a Manuka honey and I thought oh honey sure that's that's all that's to it. Then I think it was the last time maybe that somebody from Three Rivers was on and I got a pot of a Fuhrer Honey and oh it's a world of difference. It's the best of stuff, it's the best of stuff Joe. How you doing Dave? I wouldn't have sent you down bad stuff. No, no obviously, obviously. As long as you enjoyed it. It's pricey now I've priced it since it doesn't come cheap but they they say that the honey the only honey that's really good for you that has sort of medicinal properties is local honey is that right? It's different kinds of honey John yes and people use it for for different reasons or your own medicinal purposes. A lot of people fix it for like hay fever you know takes the local honey for that but what I have found with the few people here locally that have taken my honey for hay fever if they take it early on in the year and keep taking that local honey there's no borrow the hay fever and one example without growing the hay fever was my own sister and I had been giving her honey last year and she didn't like honey now she loves it but she suffered from hay fever big time so she was eating my honey and March April May coming in the gym under the pollen season she had no borrow the hay fever and she says to me give me another jar of that honey and I says it looks like I've only left so I hoped around the house and I found one jar and I gave it there and hay fever came back and couldn't couldn't figure it at all but it was actually a jar of my brother's honey from London the south so it just showed that my local honey worked with her hay fever her hay fever and his didn't okay well so there's no hard and fast rules there's there's it's not a precise science no no no okay and you're all at the minute we have that local honey I think a sense you're doing that stuff but I don't know if you can see that they held their honey yes that's beautiful right there's there's more studies and stuff going on out there now that is in fact if it hasn't the same it is better healing properties than the minute the honey and that's readily available you know throughout the north west if you look for it so well I mean uh uh some people might find it hard to take a spoon full of honey as sweet as sweet and all as it is and it's fine like that but I've just put it through porridge and and and it's lovely but uh even take a spoon of it it's good too for it you know if you have a sore throat and stuff like that uh people take it for I suppose a whole part of different reasons oh listen we're going off track here yes yes we want to chat about the the show that's on on uh Sunday yeah uh this is for people now who might be interested in in producing honey and getting some bees and and swan but it's it's it's also just for people who want to go along and taste a few of these products or just to see what's happening John it's it's open day everyone um and it's beekeepers non beekeepers people that are interested maybe and taken up to hobby or um people that there's different classes there for uh people if you look there is you mentioned a few of them there's eight different classes all together in the show um there's classes of honey that are going to be judged eight different classes of different things um and each class will have different levels and if you know you'll have a class of jars of honey for example you'll have a class in of like uh people that has never entered honey shows before so they can enter some of their products a bit different products and them categories novices for comb honey you know honey comb um sections flames of honey chunk honey different kinds of honey if you look down each thing as I say there's eight different classes and for the non beekeepers you know um we have classes like like for bacon cakes cookies you know all the other stuff there is recipes you know if anybody can by the way um log on with a wee website there now um I'm sure we put up the link on somewhere it's three rivers beekeeping dot id as far as I remember um and the schedules are available on the website it's three rivers bees one at gmail.com is the email address email address we have a wee website as well three rivers beekeeping you'll find it and if that's not the correct address you'll find it on facebook and I made you want to be like three rivers all the details and stuff so for people that don't keep base you know with things like you know we can make honey fruit cakes sponge cakes biscuits cookies you know uh honey and marmalade uh sweets taffies all that kind of stuff um and then there's wax there's a section there for wax set for wax there'll be more uh aimed at the beekeepers or maybe somebody can get a hold of some wax you know um we can the candles we have people beeswax is probably one of the hardest classes and honey show and one of the things that is very hard to get right I personally have tried to make a block of beeswax for the show haven't succeeded there's a lot a lot of work going to get the wax right a lot of experience in it explain to me beeswax explain explain is this a byproduct well well I will it's it's your honeycomb if you like you know the the I'm sure you I could show you something here I'm fair enough the thing so you have things you know when you get you'll have honeycombs like that's that's actually what you call a section an area section and you have all your um the honey's all capped on behind the white stuff you can all this white stuff that's all the beeswax the bees puts us over the comb to preserve keep keep the honey once it's seen up to the right um moisture level and they cap it off and that that keeps it all nice and clean and fresh so it's good to use so that's your actual beeswax is the one there that makes the honeycomb and the week happens on on the honey so what we do that and we take it we clean it we wash it take all the honey and stuff out of it you can melt it down you can make different products you can either sex is in the show there for candles you know beeswax candles yes so many different things there's nothing in the show but I mean you make things like lip balms that kind of stuff with it there's there's so much in furniture for less there's a lot of stuff with beeswax you can do so there's so much there's so many categories to this and and so many products and so much judging you must and so all these various classes I can on the sheet that I have here in count 35 you must get um honey producers and beekeepers from far and wide this is the first it's the first show I'm actually involved in uh John um and and they're on all over the country you know there's one there and from there last week there's there's big ones done in Dublin massive massive massive events and I know for a fact I was talking to beekeepers and stuff from me oh they're last week and they're coming up to honey show you'll have people coming out from their mother and from there all the emphasis all up and they come and it's so it's a big community it's a big community yeah um and I suppose it's moving more about for the hardened beekeepers it's a bragging race if you like you know there's no big there's no big money prizes or anything uh so it's just to say that do you like one first oh I invest but I suppose it's a great opportunity for those that are maybe starting out on the path maybe as somebody who's either interested in beekeeping or who's just starting out to come along and chat to the experts and people who are experienced exactly and it'll be any amount of experienced beekeepers there there's we have the uh Mark Wallace who take most of our classes is right up to the the high level beekeeping so I think they want to know a bit beekeeper running they aren't sure but there's there's plenty of advice and help there on the day as well there's um you mentioned it earlier on there's there's a few different talks John and the just I again it'll all be available on the thing you know we'll have actually the chair of the UBKA down uh John Hull very knowledgeable man he'll be doing a bee talking fabulous Conan or or chairman he'll be under justness um uh the different me talks not all about the ladies in us uh uh get from the Federation of the beekeepers association they have the two big associations in in Ireland um and then there's a great speaker coming on then at uh 1645 he's a guy called Colin McGuire the rest of them are now warm up back for him you know so he's he's going to talk about the experiences of a new beekeeper why anybody want to know my experiences I don't know but anyway okay okay well um it'll all make sense on the day you have to be there um the the first part of the day is for uh entries to the competition and then the judging and it opens to the public in the afternoon is that right basically uh they're taking the entries up to around a half 12 from nine to half 12 yeah the judging access starts at one o'clock the events you know the the speaking if you like and and the different we the buoy um what do you call it um stalls and and can't demonstrate and hit him at the candles to stop the action we don't get your beeswax so it starts and anytime then after I think it's a half two from oh here 10 past three so um the judging will be gone from starting at one o'clock yeah uh we're putting on refreshments that's first of all it's a free event we're very very keen to get 10 uh 10 or 11 sponsors there to sponsor an event for us you know we want to try and make it accessible to everybody so you know there's no covered charge there's no anything like the wee box for donations of the row or film but they want to um help because at the end of the day we're a a synon profit making club you know they mean we just do everything for the members and new members and encourage them and I'm trying to help them as much as we can so they can come in and they can see what happens in honey show where they can see the judges to see what they do um as I say there would be demonstrations and stuff as well for beekeepers um wanted to buy any kind of equipment during the gap they have promised and don't eat all these coming as well and he's going to set us up a big stand so and if local people you know because if the nearest land taste is down in Glenclaw and kill he's going to bring a stand so anybody that's considering maybe then anything pop along on Sunday and I'm sure you'll have it and if you want to check with them first maybe give them wee ring and they can bring it to you so it's all about helping each other and well I get that impression all right from the the beekeeping community and in a way it's it's an industry event but it's for anybody who's curious or interested or just likes it's amazing when you go when you go to like a show like that john they see people think as you sit out here on you know a bit of squeezy bottle honey the many different kinds of honeys the many different colors of honeys the different tastes the different types there's things that people wouldn't maybe hear tell us a chunk honey which is your comb inside the jar with honey around it there's sections you have honey so mead mentioned oh you're looking for a bottle of that too well what's what's the story mead all I know is mead from history and it's alcohol what's that got to do with honey mead is a drink that's made from honey um and and it's it's mead was drunk years and years and years ago the Vikings and kings and queens and all they all drunk to mead is basically water honey and a wee bit of yeast and a lot of patience um I've actually started three batches again once you get involved in the beekeeping thing you want to try the different things so I've two batches of mead and the kids in there now and the wife's going in but they won't be ready for at least a year job all right some of the some of the meads that will be in display um you know there could be three four more years old you know and it takes you know the the longer the ages the better it becomes so that's again one of the the day hards but as I said John apart from the the cooking thing I mean there's all the things there that maybe some day some sort of photography and again there's no entry fee you know you can enter your photographs if it's anything anything related to the bees or beekeeping at all you know should it be a photograph and a bumblebee in the sun flare or honeybee on a daffodil or some photographing you know photographers are um there's there's things there for needlecraft painting part right it's just a lot a lot of stuff um somebody keeps flowers there's a lovely garden of flowers maybe make up a nice phase of flowers there's classes for that as well so it's not just all four beekeepers and again it's it's just show people what it's all about you know and show all the different kinds of products and stuff and it is a little bit the the beekeeper sticks at the only shows like the the big event for them in the year you know and this is the first one pre-covid you know 2019 I think was the last one so it's a big big push to try and get this one going you know the more people have put in entries you know even for them or classes they check them out on the websites you know the cooking the flowers all that kind of crack the more more entries we have you know the better the show's going to be for everybody well it sounds like it's shaping up to be a big one and it will all unfold on sunday i think entry is from two o'clock it says on my sheet but anyhow more information at three rivers beekeepers dot ie calling the best look on sunday we'll just double check the website address john but anyway if a three rivers beekeeping dot ie i'm nearly sure i should have that wrote down somewhere no i see i see it here there's it's outlined on my sheet well check it out any most people's access to facebook just check out the three rivers facebook page and the website links all the schedules everything will be on that all right call it best look with it john thanks a million chat to you again all right bye bye