Regulations & Prizes

Regulations For Honey / Mead / Bee Products

  1. All exhibits to be the bona fide products of the exhibitors’ own Apiary, Meadery, or handiwork.
  2. Entries close on 01 March 2023 GMT 6PM (18h00)
  3. All exhibits are R100 per entry, [except for the Beekeeping displays, Class & Category 14 (14.1 / 14.2 / 14.3), which are R300 per entry]
  4. Email entry form with proof of payment to hepplestone@gmail.com and lundallme@arc.agric.za
  5. Entry forms without proof of payment will not be judged.
  6. Competition entries may be couriered, direct arrangements to be made directly with lincoop@gmail.com to Receive.
  7. Couriered entries to arrive at designated point by Friday 10 March 2023
  8. Delivery In-Person will be at the ICC venue, Room 12, on Friday 17 March 2023 from 12noon to 5pm, and Saturday morning 18 March 2023 from 09h00 to 13h00
  9. An exhibitor may submit more than one (1) entry per class, provided that each entry is from a different source.
  10. The Honey and Mead bottles selected for judging, having been opened, may be used for tasting purposes.
  11. The Judges’ decisions are Final.
  12. After the event, the exhibits are to be collected directly from the Chief Stewards, at the venue, from 11am on Friday 24 March. Uncollected exhibits become the property of the HJG thereafter.

Regulations For Honey And Bee Products

  1. Understanding that availability of bottles may vary for the upcoming African Regional Apimondia Symposium Honey & Mead Competition, herewith the choice of bottles, bottle sizes, and lids, for ARAS2023:
    (a) Each Honey entry (Liquid / Soft set / Granulated / Chunk) is to be :
    *3x bottles of the same type per entry
    *Ideally 3x 500g clear glass, or clear plastic, bottles with screw top
    *Bottle sizes may be 375g or 500g or 750g clear glass or clear plastic bottles,
    *provided that all 3 bottles with lids are the same in the entry.
    *Lids may be silver or gold, or any colour if neither silver nor gold can be sourced,
    *provided that all 3 bottles in the entry have the same colour lids
    (b) Extra lids may be supplied by the entrant, for the stewards to replace onto the bottles before staging.
    (c) Fixed, permanent markings on bottles are prohibited. These could lead to disqualification of an exhibit.
  2. Frames are delicate to deliver to a competition, please ensure their stability upon delivery by placing in a sturdy and supportive structure/box/super.
    (b) If the wood on the Frame is branded, these markings may be covered with masking tape.
    (b) Frames shall be covered (in clear plastic, or cling wrap)
  3. Upon delivery to the stewards, the entries are to be accompanied by the entry form.
  4. The Chief Steward and/or Judges may move an entry to a more suitable class without prejudice to the entry.
  5. The fill level for a bottle of honey shall be to the full ridge around the neck, as shown below. The fill level for all 3 bottles in an entry shall be the same, note Under- or Over-filled as below or above the rim of the bottle.

Prizes For Honey And Bee Products

Prizes/Certificates shall be awarded, provided there are 3 or more entries in the category.

Certificates shall be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

There shall be a BEST BOTTLE ON SHOW award for the highest scoring LIQUID HONEY in the competition.

There shall be a BEST ON SHOW award for the most points scored, from multiple high-scoring entries, by a single exhibitor in Honey & Bee products.

There shall be a BEST CREATIVE award for the highest scoring entry in the Creative exhibits.

Presiding Honey and Wax Judges for ARAS 2023 are Eddy Lear and Reg Morgan.

The Honey and Wax exhibits shall attain the following standards of Excellence:

1st FIRST prize shall be 95% or more

2nd SECOND prize shall be 93% or more

3rd THIRD prize shall be 90% or more

Presiding Art Judge for ARAS 2023 is Dr Amanda Bucknall

The Creative, Artistic, Photographic exhibits shall attain the following standards of Excellence:

1st FIRST prize shall be 90% or more

2nd SECOND prize shall be 80% or more

3rd THIRD prize shall be 75% or more

Label Class shall attain the following standards of Excellence:

1st FIRST prize shall be 90% or more

2nd SECOND prize shall be 85% or more

3rd THIRD prize shall be 80% or more

Regulations For Mead

  1. Each bottle may be corked, or have a screw thread, on the neck. A plastic shrink capsule should be used to finish off.
  2. All entries should declare Additionals, and chemicals or preservatives if used.
  3. Place a label, with an elastic band, around the bottles, identifying the Class and specifying Dry / Sweet / Semi Sweet, the Honey source, and the Additionals used. For example: M5 Melomel, Semi-Sweet, multifloral honey, cherries & lime.
  4. Dry Mead: shall have a residual sugar level below 10 g/l.
  5. Semi-Sweet Mead: shall have a residual sugar level between 10 g/l and 20 g/l.
  6. Sweet Mead: shall have a residual sugar level greater than 20 g/l.
  7. There shall be no sign of oxidation in the meads.
  8. Colour: Light to have a maximum Pfund reading of 50 mm. Medium to have a maximum Pfund reading of 114 mm.
  9. Appearance: shall be clear, brilliant, never dull. It should give a first impression of cleanliness and brilliance.
  10. Bouquet and Aroma: above all shall be pronounced. The bouquet should provide a distinct aroma and will determine the overall impression of the mead.
  11. Taste: the most important facet of the mead, judging body, depth of flavour, complexity, balance, and how well the floral flavour, acidity, alcohol, tannin, sweetness etc., combine and harmonize.
  12. After-taste: The flavours and scents should linger, envelop one for a moment, and the mead should not leave an alcoholic sensation.
  13. Melomel: is a mead with a mixture of fruit and does not have more than a 50% fruit pulp combination. Additionals / Type of fruit to be declared.
  14. Metheglyn: is a spiced mead. Spices being powder derived from crushing of seed etc. Additionals / Type of spice to be declared.
  15. Hippocras: is an herbal and spiced mead. Herbs being leaves etc. Additionals / Type of herb and spice to be declared.
  16. Capsicumel: is a mead made predominately with capsicum peppers. Additionals to be declared.
  17. Braggot: Is a honey-based grain beer. The ABV shall be a maximum of 6%.
  18. Cyser or Pyment: Cyser is a Melomel mead with only apple added to it, shall have not more than 50% apple fruit pulp added, Pyment being a Melomel with only grape, shall have not more than 50% grape pulp added.
  19. Sparkling Mead: is a mead that is under pressure in which the pressure shall be between 75 and 300kPa. Dry, Semi-Sweet or Sweet.
  20. Saxumel: Mead Liqueur, shall be a distilled Mead, with an alcohol content of at least 43%. After the addition of a monofloral honey, shall have an ABV of 30%-45%.
  21. African Traditional Mead – iQhilika shall be produced by the addition of peeled Trichodiaderma roots
  22. African Traditional Mead – T’ej shall be produced by the addition of gesho sticks, or other bittering agents, raisins, and oak bark
  23. African Traditional Mead – iMpandamel shall be produced by the addition of edible roots
  24. African Traditional Mead – Khadi shall be produced by the addition of edible wild berries
  25. African Traditional Mead – Vhinya va vulomba shall be produced by the addition of marula fruit
  26. African Traditional Mead is assumed to be produced traditionally by an African Tribe, Country, or Culture. If the name does not appear as shown in a Class, then the details of the mead should be attached to the bottle. Additionals to be declared. African Traditional Mead may have a removable, colourful closure (removable so as not to influence the judges) with a ribbon, cloth, or beads, around the bottle neck, indicating custom colour. (When judging is complete, the decorative exhibit shall be displayed.)

Red – Karri/iQhilika – Eastern Cape origin

Green, Yellow & Red – T’ej – Ethiopian origin

Blue, Red, White, Yellow & Green – iMpandamel – Zulu origin 

Blue, Red, & Black – Khadi – Tswana origin 

Blue – Vhinya ya vulomba/ vukanyi – Tsonga origin.

All African meads may have their national flag incorporated into the bottle closure.

Prizes For Mead

Prizes/Certificates shall be awarded, provided there are 3 or more entries in the category.

Certificates shall be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

There shall be a BEST MEAD award for the highest scoring Mead in the competition.

There shall be a BEST MEAD MASTER award for the most points scored, from multiple high-scoring entries, by a single exhibitor in Mead.

There shall be a BEST ON SHOW, HONEY & MEAD, award for the exhibitor scoring the most points across all categories and classes.

The exhibits shall attain the following standards of Excellence:

1st FIRST prize shall be 90% or more

2nd SECOND prize shall be 85 – 89%

3rd THIRD prize shall be 80 – 84%

 

Presiding Mead Judges for ARAS 2023: Ernst Thompson and Krzysztof Piwowar, providing their score sheet:

 

Score Sheet for MEAD (Type ____________) Category/Class: ______ 

FLAVOUR & BODY     AROMA & BOUQUET  

UNACCEPTABLE

Very Unpleasant taste, major faults

 

 

0-5

UNACCEPTABLE

Very Unpleasant aroma, major faults

0-5

BELOW AVERAGE

Serious faults, poor quality

6-10

 

BELOW AVERAGE

Serious faults, poor quality

6-10

AVERAGE

Flavour mostly within the style, minor faults

11-15

AVERAGE

Bouquet mostly within the style, minor faults

11-15

VERY GOOD

Pleasant flavour mostly within the style

16-20

VERY GOOD

Pleasant bouquet, mostly within the style

16-20

EXCELLENT

Pleasant flavour within the style

21-26

EXCELLENT

Pleasant bouquet within the style

21-25

PERFECT

Excellent, pleasant, within the style

27-32

PERFECT

Complex and pleasant, ideal with the style

26-30
YOUR SCORE   YOUR SCORE  
MAX POINTS/TOTAL /32 MAX POINTS/TOTAL /30

 

APPEARANCE     OVERALL IMPRESSION  

UNACCEPTABLE

Major faults

0-2

UNACCEPTABLE

Major faults and/or differences in style

0-2

BELOW AVERAGE

Serious faults, poor quality

3-4

BELOW AVERAGE

Serious faults, poor quality

3-4

AVERAGE

Few minor faults

5-6

AVERAGE

Minor faults, mostly within the style

5-6

VERY GOOD

Mainly within the style, minor faults

7-8

VERY GOOD

Most of the attributes within the style

7-8

EXCELLENT

No faults, mostly within the style

9-10

EXCELLENT

No faults, mostly within the style

9-10

PERFECT

Appearance ideal with the style

11-12

PERFECT

Mead ideal with the style

11-12
YOUR SCORE   YOUR SCORE  
MAX POINTS/TOTAL /12 MAX POINTS/TOTAL /12

 

FINISH     COMMENT/ ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT MEAD  

UNACCEPTABLE

Very unpleasant aftertaste

0-2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINAL SCORE

 

 

of Max/Total Points

 

 

BELOW AVERAGE

No Finish, and/or bad aftertaste

3-4

AVERAGE

Short Finish with neutral aftertaste

5-6

VERY GOOD

Medium Finish, pleasant aftertaste

7-8

EXCELLENT

Medium/long Finish, pleasant aftertaste

9-11

PERFECT

Long, Pleasant Finish & aftertaste

12-14

 

/100

 

YOUR SCORE

MAX POINTS/TOTAL

 

/14