From ancient times, honey has been known of as the nectar of the gods. The reasons for this are numerous: It has medicinal uses, has been used in religious practices, if dried into a powder it keeps almost indefinitely, has been used to signify royalty, and is delicious on toast.

Blanco residents Terri Albright and Milton Shaw are new to beekeeping, but they were awarded first place at the Texas Beekeepers Association Annual Honey Show 2019 in the light amber division.

This is even more impressive once you become acquainted with the rigorous standards set by the association. They made a near-perfect score at 99 out of 100. The only point deduction was one point for the density which is based on the water content. For a perfect 10, the water had to be 15.5-17 percent. Their honey had a content of 17.2 percent, so that 0.2 percent is how close their honey is to perfection.

It took three days to spin out the honey, which is how honey is removed from the honeycomb. The fledgling beekeepers were struck with the clarity of the honey after harvest. Then, they found out that there was a competition and agreed to enter. Challenge accepted!

After looking up all the requirements and specifications to enter the competition, they obtained all the regulation gear necessary and set about preparation and presentation. The jars arrived just five days before the competition. They prepared two jars just in case something happened to one, they would still have a spare to enter.

When the honey was poured into the regulation jars it got air bubbles – little, microscopic bubbles. The bubbles just sat there, not moving. How do you get bubbles out of honey? Of course, they looked it up online.

Two of the online recommendations were used. One jar was sat in the sun to be gently heated. The other jar was placed in the car which had been moved to be in the sun, again gently heating the jar. It worked!

As preparations went on, Terri admits she found herself getting more and more competitive. With a warm chuckle, Milton confirmed that her competitive streak was sparked.

A lot of the judging is base on presentation. They had done the research and put in the hours of work. The honey was scrutinized in a light box for density, absence of crystals, cleanliness, container appearance, and accuracy of fill. All the criteria they had control over earned perfect marks.

Of course, part of the scoring is done on taste, which is changed by the plants that the nectar is sourced from. That part is subjective depending on what the judges prefer. Now, the work of the bees was being judged, and they did not disappoint.

Terri and Milton both give most of the credit to the bees, admitting the bees did the hard part of the work.

There are hopes that a win like this might stir up enough interest for a Blanco Chapter of Beekeepers to be organized.

Terri and Milton are proud of their bees, and Blanco is proud of them and their bees.