Honey Grading Glasses
Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 November 2009 12:32
OK, so you've decided to enter some honey shows..... and you immediately hit a problem - which category to enter, Light, Medium or Dark.
In small club shows, often the judge will move jars between incorrecttly entered classes, as these are supposed to be "fun" competitions, and their is no benefit to penalising exhibitors for incorrect entries.
However this doesn't apply to all shows, and not county shows, or the prestigious National Honey Show, where incorrect entries will be eliminated. You need "Honey Grading Glasses".
Honey Grading Glasses are small pieces of glass (or plastic) which have a defined colour according to a now obsolete British Standard that are used to compare honey against.
Two types exist, plastic and glass.
Plastic Honey Grading Glasses (Shown Left) and Glass versions (Shown Right)
Where to buy Honey Grading Glasses
Herein lies the difficulty. Honey grading classes are no longer for sale commercially. They were last shown in the Thornes catalogues in approximately the early 1990's, priced at £25.11. As bee keeping declined as a hobby in this period, the lack of availability wasn't really an issue - the second hand versions more than supplied demand. More recently though, this has ceased to be the case and demand outstrips availability.
Thornes have (as I understand it) attempted to source new supplies, but the minimum order quantity was 10,000 and none of them were of sufficient quality. Various other people I talked to in my own search to obtain them had attempted to find a source. I believe the original manufacturer was Kodak.
So how hard is it obtain them?
- In 2008, a BBKA judge had a wanted advert in the beekeeping press!
What other options exist to obtain them?
- Having attempted to obtain these, here is my following thoughts:-
- Typically 1 set per year, nationally, is advertised in one form or another
- Average prices (from a sample of 3) is £50.
- The only way to secure them is to be pro-active. You need to advertise (wanted) in Beecraft, Local & district newsletters, check ebay, visit auctions, and ask around at the National Honey Show.
- A solution must be found, as 1 set / year is insufficient.
The following was submitted as a topic for the National Honey Show AGM "Given Honey grading glasses
are now no longer commercially available, and indeed are almost
impossible to find second hand (and odd sets at a auction is hardly
enough to support requirements), what does the National Honey Show intend to do with regard to its classes of Light, Medium and Dark honey?"
Unfortunately, I do not believe it was raised as a topic.
Margerat Thomas had some interesting information, although it won't help in the short term. "Most other countries (that have honey shows) use the Pfund scale which uses electronic metering - when I enquired of an American manufacturer of the cheapest available I was referred to their English representative who quoted me in excess of £300 !"
Conclusion:
Bad news unfortunately, only via continued and repeated searching will you likely succeed in buying. This is quite impractical for most people and hopefully various committeesare attempting to find a solution to this messy situation. Some practical assistance that could be provided is:
- A loan set that can be posted out from the National Honey Show for a suitable deposit
- Removal of all the colour categories and judges / judges assistants to decide prior to judging (a rather cataclysmic solution!)
- A complete switch to a new standard, which are manufacturable.
