 In viewers, welcome to the program, Agriculture Under the Move. I am Philip Sidney, your host. Today we are discussing the Hiwanora National Honey Show, which is held under the distinguished patronage of the Honourable Alfred Prospe, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development. With me today is, to my extremer, right, is Karis Ogist, who is the apiculture coordinator in the livestock unit in the Ministry of Agriculture, and next to her is Mr. Richard Mathias, who is the manager of the Honey Show and is also the president of the Ionola Apiculture Collective. Welcome to the program. Thank you. Richard, tell us a bit about the Honey Show. We had one a few years ago, which was our first Honey Show. Last year. Very successful, but for persons who are not aware, tell us, what's the objective of the Honey Show? Sure. Great question. The objective of the Honey Show is an opportunity for beekeepers from across the island to select their best tasting and smelling honeys and enter into a national competition to see who's got the best honey in specific categories, so that's the long and short of it. Okay, give us a review of the first one, as far as you can recall, and what did we learn from this, moving into this new one? Sure. I think the first competition that was held last year under the Jeff SGP Knowledge Fair as part of the schedule of events, it was very interesting. We had some really great competitors, guest judges that came from the UK were very impressed with the quality of the honey and the presentations that were made, so overall it was quite very well attended. I think we had about just under 30 participants, 30 beekeepers entering the competition, we have just under, I think, 85 exhibits in total, so it was, your persons could enter multiple categories, so I mean, it was quite interesting. We had two really great champions who won last year, Vincent J. Clarke out of Viewfort, who won Best in Show, who won the Minister's Cup, so he would have won the Best in Show prize is basically a trophy is for the judging, the person who scores the most points in all the honey categories, so light amber, amber, dark amber, honey in comb honey, and the wax, block of wax, wax candles, so the person who accumulated the most points in that category, which is the core honey show category, will win the Minister's Cup. But interestingly, the number two prize to win overall is the person who scores the overall most points in competition, so the other categories such as the honey, the baked goods category where you can bake the cake, bake a honey cake, product of, which includes honey of your choice, art and photography section, so we had somebody who entered all those categories and won the most points in show, and I was a young lady by the name of Matali Alphonse from Derriso, so it was a very hotly contested event, both overall winners were from the south of the island, Jeg being from Viewfort, Matali being from Derriso, so that was a really good competition from the south, hopefully this year the beekeepers in the north and the east and the west of the country will show a little better and they'll be able to enjoy some of the prizes because this year there's cash prizes as well, so the sponsorship has been really great and hopefully that will encourage more persons to participate. This year we've got an additional category, honey cocktail, something for all the bartenders and mixologists out there to give us a nice combination of honey and rum, the taste of solution, the spirit of solution. Bounty rum meets the taste of solution, honey, so let's see what we can produce, I don't know if you win that prize, I think at this point in time it's 500 dollars plus a perpetual trophy, so next year that trophy will go back into the pool, you get your name engraved and you'll see who comes up with a better cocktail next year, so definitely we try to really encourage to get more persons on board, especially from the non-traditional beekeeping sector but to get persons from other areas, bakers, mixologists, artists, photographers to get them involved as well because capturing nature and biodiversity is key. Very good. Okay, I know there is a collaboration of course with the Ministry and livestock sector involved in that, Kharis, give us your tick from the Ministry standpoint. Okay, the Ministry as you know our Honourable Minister is the patronise of this event, so we'll be having two basis for registration, one conveniently in the south and one in the north, so in the south you can go and register at the fisheries conference room because our station for that section is there and in the north you can go to the National Agricultural Diagnostic Facility, you come in with your $10 for registration, we give you the jazz and you are on your way. A simple easy process for anybody whether you are a farmer an artist or one of the mixologists, maybe you can use a little sample of the drinks there before registration but it's conveniently located, we'll be there from 9 to 1 p.m. on a Friday, if we are not available during the Fridays you can do so during the week at the chef's office in San Suu Kyi. In terms of getting the people sensitised and to know where to come to register, how do they know? Are they aware of it? Well, we're using this opportunity and you can look out for the ads, we send the different flyers to different farmers so if you're on social media you'll see it, you'll see it on the Ministries Facebook page, you get the information everywhere, you'll also be seeing in the next few weeks the trophy being stationed at the Massey stores or one of the Republic Bank, you come right? Yeah, that's post competition, post competition. But you can, you will head through the social media. Okay, I know there are other honey groups, right? Are you all leasing of them to give them that kind of information so that their members will be aware? Yes, the eight honey groups have been informed via social media, they have been participating in the training that the fires gives in preparation for the honey show. Okay, well, what's about? Also schools. Just about to ask you about the schools because you cannot leave out the schools, I mean, when it comes to culinary, I mean the schools play a major, major role. So how are they involved? The Ministry of Education has a representative which really is with giving the information and hopefully soon the Ministry on Agriculture and the honey show manager will be going out to the schools just to give a debriefing of what is expected to the food and nutrition classes and to the at classes. Okay, but Mathias, the various components, apart from the honey, I hear you mentioned the wax, I mean there are other components that will be on exhibit, give us a range of those components. Sure, so the honey show is not just about honey, we also have one of our interesting categories because there's 13 categories in total that persons can register to enter in. One of the most, one of the interesting ones is going to be best commercial product. So best commercial product would be a product is either honey or a product that contains value-added products from the honey, like such as propolis, beeswax, even it could be apitoxin, could be royal jelly, but any product that can be derived that originates from the hive and is packaged as a commercial product in line with Bureau of Standards regulations, we have a special category for all commercial products, all commercial bee products, honey, creams, candles, waxes, lip balms, all in one big nice collect pot. So the judges will also be looking at commercial products. And one of the things that is very important about the honey show is that we really want to elevate the standard of the honey and the products that are derived from the hive and solution to elevate it to the next level. So you know that persons can really pursue it as a livelihood. You know honey production is still somewhat of a hobbyist activity. There's a few commercial beekeepers on Ireland, but we really want to see our honey come to the next level so that we can have the surplus and that's upstairs to us. We've got experts in Lucia that's trying to help to elevate the production levels so that they've got technical team here from the UK right now and Barbados. So they're trying to really see how best we can increase our production so we'll have a surplus that's available for export and they can bring in additional income. So it's very important that we look at, use the honey show as a mechanism to raise the standard of our products in the quality. Bee keepers will spend a little more attention in making sure their honey is filtered properly. There's no bits of residue inside of it. They may now start to take note of the different seasons of the year and separate the honeys from the earlier part of the year from the latter part of the year. So you know, in the beginning of the season, we have a nice light flowery honeys, whereas as a year progresses and the fruiting trees come into blossom, you'll have a more fruity taste. And then at the end of the year, we have our rain forest, which will go into bloom then and you have a whole different dimension of flavors there again. So it's very important that once our bee keepers start to hone in and focus on those different segments of the honey flavors and they present that in competition, then they may say, okay, maybe if I can package this specific time of year or blossom, so if it's savinet honey, and persons may gravitate to that and they can charge it a little more. And because people will say, I like the taste of that. And it's, you know, it's a taste special, you know, or you know, some people may prefer the logwood, they prefer the cabbage. Alright, so if you try to start to zoom in on the honey products, and you decide you started to find them much better, you may be find that you can sell them. You could sell a slightly more advantageous price point because you've got done a little more homework on your product as well as just selling a multi-ferro blend to a person. Okay, in fact, I am coming to the point where, okay, the honey farmer is producing honey. But then there's a chain in terms of you mentioned, somebody else can take it from there and add value to it. Yes. You know, and that is, and we're just going, coming to our break. And I'm thinking here, at the show, would you have other persons there with products to exhibit so people can see exactly what is happening. Sure. So we have a number of artisans, persons that produce cosmetics using items from the beehive. So some persons will make a honey-oaked soap. So you'll have a hide. So persons who make soaps will be available on site. You'll have persons that may be making facial scrubs that include honey inside of it or may have propolis inside of it. You may have some persons that have propolis tinctures, which is good for a soft root. Or if you've got a little too fake, you can put a couple of drops in your tooth. So there'll be a whole gambit of other products. I think it'll even have some honey ice cream. Wow. Okay. All right. So there'll be a whole gambit of products. You know, really try to have a nice atmosphere. We'll also have solo bands from. Okay. Hold that thought. There's so much to be discussed. Yes. You're watching agriculture in a move we do for our break. Stay tuned. We'll be back soon. Don't go away. Yes. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development is placing heavy emphasis on the concept of food security. It's our prosperity, our future. The Cocoa Sector Enhancement Project, CSEP is targeting the rehabilitation of at least 201 acres of cocoa and the expansion of at least 294 acres. It protects against main diseases like blackboard and witch's broom and pests like rodents. It secures the appropriate enabling environment to advance the sector. To learn more about the Cocoa Sector Enhancement Project, please contact Project Coordinator at 459-7003. On the move, we are discussing the Iwanora National Honey Show and of course we have my two guests here and we have been discussing so much and we're getting into the the mitigility at this juncture. But I want to ask Haris, before we get into the venue and what is expected, from the Ministry's standpoint working with farmers, do you think the farmers have really taken up, you know, the mantle as far as the industries considering solution? Well, the amount of honey producers are very low. There are a lot of hobbies and we want to change that and to introduce a new concept of honey production training from the Ministry. We started earlier this year. We have about 17 graduates from that aspect because the skills for honey production is needed if we are going to increase for export. Also understand when you get a bottle of honey it may cost between 60 and 70. The imports, we have to import a lot of our our tools and our friends and equipment from overseas and the course is growing every day. But we are also looking at other avenues that we can produce these things locally at a greater demand for the as the industry is growing to help eliminate these exorbitant courses to the farmers. There are now five apiculture extension officers that will be able to assist the farmers from north to south. So they are stationed in the south and stationed in the north and we go around the area. Some people may have been seeing them already but we're going to get our foot really deep into the industry as of January 2020. So get ready. I'm happy to hear that because it was a one-man show. Yes it was and that wasn't efficient. That was not efficient at all. I'm very very happy to hear that and I'm sure with that the Ministry will be able to really encourage other people to get on board and do not forget the young people to get them involved because the as you can understand the older persons are going and we need young young blood you know to be injected into the system. And we need the women. Of course of course. 81% of the apiculture industry is men and we are happy that at least we had one woman winning competition next year last year and we hope this year more women because it's only 5% of these honey producers are actually females. Great great. So and we need to change the the fact that women are only looked as bottleers of honey or peddlers of honey. We want to show them that we go in the eyes. It's a business. Yes very good. Mathias tell us about the this year. I know we all have moved the venue from Castri Central to the north of the island. I need to know why you why that was done. Okay so give us tell us what's going on. Well yeah it's a good point. This year we got a great opportunity to partner with the ARC and IGI Marina and stage and use the grounds of the marina to stage the event with their support and blessing. So we think it will be an interesting soft export opportunity because you're going to have all these cruise ship yachts coming in these racing yachts coming in and so it's in tandem with the ARC. Yes so it's actually in part it's in the part of the ARC's calendar events this year. So it will give the not only does St Lucia's a different exposure but it will give the honey producers international exposure and I think that's if you know that will give them some a little umph for them to you know let's see how we can put our best foot forward. I think they'll be a we have opportunities to sell above to they're not just to compete in the competition and display the honey for competition but there will be opportunities for booths to sell product there as well. So I think you know everybody needs a little honey for the harm at Christmas so run down to the Rodney Bay marina December 10th to buy your honey to put on your hat. Okay because you can't have the good ham without good honey. Okay so there will be an exhibition of other by-products of honey that will be on on on sale. Yes you'll have the sales. So you'll have the company I'll have the honey show going on in and you'll have all the entries into the honey show and then along outside in there'll be a number of tents with with producers honey producers cosmetic producers a whole range of different products will be available and sell so if you haven't got your Christmas presents for your loved ones there is an opportunity to buy something local locally produced for for your loved ones for for the Christmas period as well. You know so there'll be I think and there'll be a number of organizations that are sponsors that will have special incentives for the Christmas and a republic bank will have a booth there they'll have some special products they will be offering to the the to the general public will have massy stores will have a booth there they'll have something special for the public for the Christmas period they may have some promotional item there just looking at my list Bounty Rum obviously they're the sponsors for cocktails so they'll may have something there as well. Vitabee Health and Man Lake these are B supply companies the international companies that have helped us and sponsored the competition this year. Man Lake have supplied a lot of freebies that will be given away through the competition B suits caps all that's a little memorabilia and Vitabee Health the CFO will actually be flying in to give us his support in person. Vitabee Health is one of the largest B health supply companies in Europe and Mr Owens will be flying in just to give us his lending support to Caribbean beekeeping he's an avid sailor he's done the arc twice so it was a good excuse to jump away from the coal and said to the wife like let's go and support the guys we're not going to do the arc this year but we're going to come and support our friends who did the arc and plus participate in that and give lend our support to the St Lucia honey show so we're already getting support not just locally but internationally and regionally as well. In terms of your judges the judges are both foreign and local? Yes so one of the things that we really wanted to for zooming on because we didn't want anybody to think there's any kind of bias so we have and honey is a very specific thing to judge if we have Sue Miss Sue Carter who is an expert judge from a national UK honey show. She was here last year? She was here last year and we thought it was very important for the credibility of the competition that we had an accomplished judge who knows about judging whose judged competitions all over the world and to lend her support to to our competition. She'd be assisted by Mr Bill Weathers who's been the head steward for the UK national honey show for a number of years. We've got chef Orlando from Souffre. He'll be lending his support in regards to the culinary aspects in the foods and we'll also be having one of our colleagues from Barbados Mr David Small who is a steward trained steward honey steward got trained in Florida and he's going to be coming to participate and assist so it's really going to have a Caribbean international flavor this year so that you know we can really bring the best of the region together to help us and make our show a success. Wow wow wow so it's going to be loaded this year but I have been hearing people saying look everything is in the north so what happened in the south are you taking it down to the south in the future? Yes I definitely think it's in the south and you know something that I mean I don't have the time but I wish maybe that the ministry could look at as a preliminary in throughout the course of the year maybe the ministry could look at having smaller honey shows in around in the different parishes you know so that when when the national honey show come they'll be prepared so it was as a way to build momentum you know and so I think it's something that we could collaborate with the ministry and to have something like a a pre honey show a pre you know so we can do something in the south maybe one year we can actually have the honey show in the south of the island once we get the right location and the sponsors to support us I think it's not out of the pale to have it in the south. Definitely you mentioned you have some side attractions in terms of entertainment tell us about this. Yes working with the Department of Sustainable Development they've been doing a lot of work on developing in an I know the project in developing alternative livelihoods I want to think I've done as well as beekeeping as well as Latini brooms as well as developing a nursery as well to help in certain communities they've also been spending some time in developing cultural development and they have solo bands so I think there's the Morsi solo band will be performing live at the event and also there's some young men they've also been playing some interesting to doing some denry segment songs a lot of the more provocative nature but more something more of an inspirational nature they will also hopefully be participating as well so we'll have a really solution festive honey blessed the different venue so the venue is IGY marina 10th of December all competitors need to deliver their entries on the 9th of December between 10 and 4 p.m. to the Bay Gardens Marine Haven which is the hotel just opposite the marina so we will receive all entries between 10 and 4 at Bay Gardens Marine Haven and then on the day of the show we'll bring them across to the IGY marina and we'll have the judging and prize for them so far. Fanel, would you like to two seconds? We want all groups in the country to participate we want people to come out in large number and support local it's always good to support local. Definitely thank you again Kamarad thank you for being here I know it will be a success thank you for your faith and thank you Caris for being here and keep working with the farmers and get more people involved so the next time it will be bigger and better. Thank you again viewers for viewing the program it has been nice to discuss with you and to bring you information about the Iwanora National Honey Show please do come to view come and buy support local and of course it's Christmas time buy yourself a gift for your loved ones I'm Philip Sidney saying goodbye and see you again thank you