Honey that started off as a hobby, has now gained recognition internationally and beekeeper Eddie Hart of Belvidere Heights is the new champion with the World’s Best Tasting Honey.
The organizers of the 2013 Black Jar Honey Contest, hosted by the Center for Honeybee Research, appoached Hart after being informed about him by Prof Jamie Ellis of the university of Florida, who also motivated Hart to enter.
Sweet success
Hart says he was astonished when he heard the good news. ‘I really didn’t expect it,’ he says proudly.
He initially started with a couple of beehives, after completing a course in England many years ago, which soon grew to about 25 hives, placed in and around Belvidere’s fynbos and Harkerville’s fields of clover.
The journey and the judges
To ensure safe passage to the USA, a sample of Hart’s Honey was sent in a plastic milk bottle after ensuring that no permit was necessary.
After carefully selecting the best honey from hundreds of entries from all over the world, six celebrity chefs focused on fourteen of the world’s best tasting honeys.
Hart’s Honey convincingly took the first prize in the World’s Best Tasting Honey category.
In his report, Charles Chesick, director for the Center for Honeybee Research, stated:
‘The honey was not only collected from the fynbos vegetation of the southernmost tip of Africa, but gathered by Apis mellifera capensis bees. Who knew such a combination even existed?! The taste captivated our judges.’
Read the original article on Showme.co.za.