Beekeeping
The Beekeeping & Honey Show at Topsfield Fair is the largest at any fair in North America. The first honey exhibits were entered in 1844. The show has been operated and sponsored by the Essex County Beekeepers Association since 1928. In 1998 the International Association of Fairs and Expositions awarded it "First Place" for the excellence of its presentation.
There are up to four live observation hives on display during the Fair. Knowledgeable beekeepers will explain the inner workings of a bee colony to fairgoers. Children can make their own honeycomb beeswax candle to take home as a souvenir of their visit to the Beekeeping Building.
At the 2007 Fair there were more than 250 entries into four divisions at the show including: honey, beeswax, beekeeping related arts & crafts and cooking with honey. The competition is open to all.
Essex County Beekeepers' Association
Learn more about beekeeping from Essex County Beekeepers' Association website
Related Exhibitor Handbook Downloads 2010 (.pdf)
2010 American Honey Queen
2010 American Honey Queen Lisa Schluttenhofer is the 20-year-old daughter of Mike and Roberta Schluttenhofer of Thorntown, IN. She is a junior at Purdue University where she is majoring in Agricultural Communications. At Purdue, she is active in the College of Agriculture Dean's Scholars Program and activities at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. She has been a beekeeper for eight years.
Edward J. Mandry - Honey Ambassador 2009-2010
Edward is a senior this year at North Andover High School and is looking forward to attending college next year with a major in some form of mechanical and/or electrical engineering. He lives on the family farm which is now in its third generation since starting in the early 1900's. Ed helps with all aspects of the farm from vegetable gardening to picking fruit and, of course, working with the bees and their year-round needs. While he's been aware of bees all his life, Ed became interested in bees about five years ago when he rummaged through the barn and noticed a lot of bee related equipment that hadn't been used for about a dozen years. After going to bee school at the Essex County Beekeepers Association Bee Building, Ed and his father started 2 hives and they are up to 5 hives this year. Ed is now quite comfortable around bees and often works around the hives with just a protective veil over his head. Bees are an amazing self-contained society with each bee having a well-defined task based in part on their age and time of year and each hive has its own personality. Everyday there is something new to learn. While there is a lot of work making the honey comb frames and hive boxes and maintaining each hive, the payback is extracting the honey from the combs and enjoying the honey all year long!