September's Meeting!!

Alamo Area Beekeepers Association

Next meeting:  Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

At Helotes Independent Baptist Church

15335 Orange Tower Road

Helotes, TX 78023

MEETING AGENDA

Ø  President’s Welcome& Visitors Intro by Rick Fink (5 min)

Ø  Approval of the July 2014 meeting minutes (5 min)

Ø  Treasurer & Membership Report, Richard Trevino (5 min)

Ø  2014 Youth Scholarship Program Update – Rick Fink & Scholarship Recipients (5-10 min)

Ø Program intermission & potluck dinner

Ø Presentation – Albert Pena, Great Harvest Bakery (20 min)

Ø Honey, Wax & Photo Judging (30 min)

Ø Q&A – Beekeeping Questions

Ø Reminders - AABA Newsletter – blog – Mind Your OWN Bee’s Wax

Our feature speaker this month is Mr Albert Pena.  Mr Pena is one of the owners of the Great Harvest Bakery in San Antonio.  He will discuss the use of honey in bread products. 

Honey and Photo Contest

We hope that you all had an excellent honey harvest this summer….collected some great honey for friends and family and took a few pictures.  The AABA honey, wax and photo contest is less formal than the Texas Beekeeper Association contest at the TBA meeting in November 2014 in Houston.  If you plan to submit entries to the TBA contest please go to Google and search the TBA website for the entry rules.  The 2014 TBA Meeting will be in Houston, TX –Nov 7-9, 2014.

The AABA (Alamo Area Beekeeper Assoc) entry rules for both the honey and photo contests can be found at the bottom of this e-mail.  Please note that we will have the more traditional extracted honey judging plus a “Black Jar” contest where the honey is judged on flavor and taste alone.  The “Black Jar” contest has proven to be very popular so pick some of your best personal “vintage” of honey from your apiary and bring it to the meeting.

Action Items:

The AABA will provide the meat dish with members asked to bring side dish-vegetables, dessert, salads etc.

We would appreciate it if a few people (20) could bring folding chairs to the September 2014 AABA meeting. 

Extractor Update – the gear on the extractor motor has been repaired (under warranty) by Maxant on September 9, 2014.  We may have the extractor back a day or so before the AABA meeting on Sept 16^th.  Suggestion if you have honey that you want to extract for the AABA honey contest please call Rick Fink, Don Fraser or Richard Trevino Jr and we will help find an AABA member with an extractor you can borrow.

Meeting Agenda – submitted by Don Fraser, VP AABA

Blog: Mind Your OWN Beeswax
Link: http://aabanewsletter@blogspot.com. Reminder – Mimi Stricker would love to receive your pictures and stories for inclusion in the AABA Blog: Mind Your Own Beeswax.  If you have an idea for a story or some interesting pictures you would like to share please contact her at: Mimi Stricker merissa.stricker@gmail.com

2014 Events

Tuesday Jan 21	Meeting *
Saturday Feb 1	Bottling Party 9am-1pm Youngblood Honey 3300 FM 1582 Pearsall, TX 78061 (Use Mapquest for Directions; GPS in your car may get you lost)
Saturday Feb 1	AABA San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Booth Set-up http://www.sarodeo.com/images/uploads/LG2013GroundsMap_APP.jpg Booth Location - #52 on the map – Little Buckaroo Farms, A Texas Experience by HEB
Feb 6-23	San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Come meet us at our booth
Tuesday March 18	Meeting *
Saturday April 26	Field Day  Fink Ranch, 1199 Lower Mason Creek Rd, Bandera, TX 78003
Tuesday May 20	Meeting *
Tuesday July 15	Meeting *
Tuesday Sept 16	Meeting * Honey, wax and photo contests
Tuesday Nov 18	Meeting * Thanksgiving Dinner and AABA Officer Election

Bi-monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the ODD numbered months (Jan-March-May-July-Sept-Nov) at Helotes Independent Baptist Church 15335 Bandera Rd, Helotes, TX 78023. Plan to arrive about 6:30 PM to register. The meeting will begin at 7 PM.

        

2014 Annual Alamo Area Beekeepers Association – Honey and Photo Contest.

General Entry Requirements: 

1. Remove identifying label or markers from entry (See Black Jar Entry Requirements) Contest administrators will affix coded tabs to entries upon submission.

Extracted Honey Entry Requirements:

1. The TBA rules state that you must submit extracted honey entries in one-pound Queenline glass jars.   AABA rules adjustment – Mason jars etc are acceptable – clear glass containers.

2. Contestants may only submit honey entries produced in their own apiary or by bees that they manage in a different state for honey production or pollination (see also Black Jar – Non Local Category).

 “Black Jar” Honey Entry Requirements:

1. Entries must be submitted by a beekeeper and be pure unadulterated honey produced by his or her own bees.

2. An “Entry” consists of one (1) one-pound jar of honey.

3. Submit a one-pound jar without any identifying marks. Contest administrators will affix coded tabs to entries upon submission.

Photo Entry Requirements: 

1. Judges will evaluate all entries in a class, regardless of black and white, color Photographers may submit any size entry with a maximum size of 8”x10”.

2. Entries in “Our Glorious Honey Bee” should depict honey bees in their natural environment depicting some element of honey bee behavior, science, or history or any aspect of beekeeping that contains a honey bee in the photo.

3. Photographers may only submit photos taken personally.

Manual Registration:

Competition Entry Form

One Form Required Per Contest Entry

Last Name: ___________________ First Name: ____________________

Address:      ___________________________________________________

City / State: ___________________ Zip:  ________ Phone:___________

o Honey - Extracted Honey  

o Honey - “Black Jar” (note below) 

o Photography – Our Glorious Honey Bee

“Black Jar Categories”  

Local Blend  ___  Local Varietal ___   Non-Local Blend ___  Non-Local Varietal ___   Exotic ___

HONEY JUDGING CRITERIA

Contest Judging – Extracted Honey - Judges may award points to entries in the following

categories for a possible 100 points:

         

Extracted Honey 

     Container Appearance 10

     Level of Fill 10                  

     Free of Foreign Matter 10

     Brightness 10

     Free of Air Bubbles and Foam 20

     Flavor 40

Total Points 100

Contest Judging – “Black Jar” – Judges will award First, Second, and Third place to entries in categories based on blind tastings.  Judges will not see the color, clarity, or any visual appeal of the honey.  It is a contest based on flavor profile and taste alone.  A panel of judges will taste test and score the honey entries individually, awarding points to each entry.  Total Points determine placement.

Best Local Blend   (example blend: wildflower, mesquite, native brush, tallow, etc)

Best Local Varietal (example at least 45% from one source: tallow, cotton, native brush, wildflower)

Best Non-Local Blend  (example: Clover, Canola, Orange, Sourwood, etc blends)

Best Non-Local Varietal  (example: at least 45% from one source: Clover, Canola, Orange, Sourwood, etc.)

Exotic (It still has to come from your own bees, and really be honey)

PHOTOGRAPY JUDGING CRITERIA

Contest Judging – Photography – Our Glorious Honey Bee - Judges may award points to entries in the following categories for a possible 100 points:

Photography – Our Glorious Honey Bee

     Relevancy to Topic 25

     Composition / Arrangement 15

     Focus / Sharpness 20

     Lighting 15

     Creativity 25

Total Points 100