Colonel Pulling Award 2025
and
Bruce White Award 2025
The winner of the Colonel Pulling Award for 2025 is
Nepean Beekeepers
Congratulations to Nepean Beekeepers on their success in the Colonel Pulling competition this year. It was a real team effort with Bob Cole and Paul Metcalfe providing honey, Kay Lockhart providing a beeswax block and candles, Robyn Cooper providing the honey cake, Warwick Coghlan for “In the apiary” photo’s and Paul Metcalfe some of his delicious mead. (He noted that almost half the bottle disappeared at Judging! The judges must have had to keep trying to make their final decision.) Thanks also to Robyn and Nicole Slavec for setting up the display on the day.
The winner of the Bruce White Award for 2025 is
Cumberland Beekeepers
Winning the Bruce White Shield at the 2025 Tocal Beekeepers Field Day was an incredible surprise for our little club. It was our first time entering the competition, and we went along for the learning and camaraderie with no expectation of bringing home a trophy. Hearing our name called was both humbling and thrilling. We would also like to say “Congratulations” to Nepean Beekeepers on winning the Colonel Pulling competition.
A heartfelt thank you to Heather for her superb honey cake and mead. Thanks also to Martin for his beautifully crafted candles and photographs. Our gratitude also goes to the bees at the club apiary for their delicious honey and the honey frame which was entered - and to David for carefully preparing them for the competition.
I also want to thank all the members who came along on the day and formed our “brains trust” for the quiz. Your enthusiasm and shared knowledge truly made the difference.
We learned a great deal by participating this year. We asked the judges plenty of questions and came away with many ideas on how to improve our entries. At our next club meeting, we discussed these insights and have already started planning our submissions for Tocal 2026. Hope to see you there!
Fiona Stroak
President - Cumberland Beekeepers