Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Decorated honey judges, who spoke of honey by its color, texture, and aroma, had
their own official tasting vocabulary and even scorecards ready for use. These judges
weretrainedandcertifiedbythestrictWelshmethod.Notonlydidtheyjudgehoneybut
they also tasted meads and critiqued beeswax candles, arts, and crafts and anything else
having to do with the honeybees. Each judge was accompanied by a steward, a judge in
training, who takes notes on the judge's observations. Judges use a special tool called
a
refractometer
to determine the water content of a honey, and a set of colored glass
plates to identify exact color grades. Sometimes a flashlight is used to observe the clar-
ity of the jar or to see if there are any air bubbles or pollen particles afloat in the honey.
A single trace of honey on the inside of the lid will disqualify a perfectly prepared jar
ofhoney—noexceptions.Alloftheentriesweresortedoutbyspecificclasses,andpla-
cing each entry in its correct category was of the utmost importance, or a perfect entry
could be disqualified. First-place winners were awarded a humble dime-sized sticker
with a red star.
Single-Varietal Honeys
Honeybees tend to visit a single flower species on any one foraging trip; ex-
amining pollen as the bees return to the hive has proved this constancy. As
long as the source flower is in bloom, bees will continue to gather nectar
from that flower and make honey from this single flower. This loyalty lasts
for varied lengths of time and creates single-varietal honeys (also called,
monofloral or unifloral honeys).
The botanical and geographic provenance of any bottle of honey can be
determined through the study of its pollen sediments. All geographical areas
have their own specific flora and fauna associations, and terroir plays a part
in these associations. To confirm the provenance of a particular bottle of
honey, you have to identify the combinations and characteristics of pollen
sources particular to that region. A honey's entire biography is right there in
the bottle.
Thesecond-largestcategoryofentrieswasthebeeswaxproducts.Cleaningandprop-
erlypreparingyourbeeswax wasapparently anartuntoitself, andtheEnglishbeekeep-
ers took this art seriously.
A favorite category for the judges was undoubtedly the tasting of the meads. There
were as many types of mead as there were honey. Meads made with fruits, spices, and
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