Hawkesbury Beekeepers Do Hawkesbury Show
Each year, two weeks after the Sydney Royal Eater Show packs up, the "Show" community moves to the Hawkesbury Show Grounds at Clarendon. The Hawkesbury Show is the second largest show in NSW and has 3 days packed full of all things that make an agricultural show.; Woodchopping, show jumping, livestock and produce exhibits, show rides, sample bags and of course a honey competition.
For Hawkesbury Beekeepers the Hawkesbury Show is one of the key focal points of the year. Its our major fundraising event where we sell club and members honey.
Its also our major community outreach opportunity with 67,000 people attending over the three days of the show. At times it felt like all 67,000 wanted to taste and buy honey at once! This year we added Beezeebo presentations.
In recent years we have also seen lively club member competition in the honey, mead and wax categories of the apiculture competition.
The stand:
The 2026 stand was a huge success from many fronts:
- The stand won the ribbon best exhibit in the "Taste of the Hawkesbury" marquee.
- Honey sales were an all-time record and almost 10 percent higher than the previous best.
- The weather was well behaved and the crowds on all three days were exceptional
The stand doubled as a centre for community education and outreach. We specifically roster people on to either exclusively sell honey or field general beekeeping enquiries. This year we also gave away "So you want to be a beekeeper" cards with general information and contact QR code.
For the first time the club took the ABA Beezeebo to the show. We ran 8 presentations over three days with 2 beekeepers in the Beezeebo.
Special thanks to to the following members (some from Nepean Beekeepers) who helped out at the show: John Bosshammer, Edward Lea, Warwick Blackman, Chris Low, Lynn Brink, Jill Johnston, Tod Waring, Catherine & Frank Colborne, Ivan Goncharov (and Ivan's son and friends), Alex Creasey, Ian Spencer, Val & Steve Tolputt, Chris Laban, Paul Metcalf, Warwick Coghlan, Johann Breytenbach & Nicole Slavec
The "Beezeebo":
As beekeepers we often underestimate the fascination the general public has with live bees. The beezeebo allows viewers to get wihin 15cm of the bees with no risk of being stung. At a time of huge pressure on bees in the environment the Beezeebo allows us as beekeepers to talkdirectly to many interested members of the community.
Hawkesbury Beekeepers brought the ABA owned Beezeebo back to Sydney in late 2025 and have used it twice since in community event.
For the Hawkesbury Show the Beezeebo did 8 presentations over 3 days. We used a PA system with an external mike so the crowd could hear the questions. The presenters were miked up inside the bee suit so the crowd could hear the beekeepers explain what they were doing and also answer questions.
The Beezeebo presentations were very well attended and especially popular with children who could see live bees 15 cm away.
Special thanks to Edward Lea, Lyn Brink, and Warwick Coughlan (Nepean Club) who worked in the Bezzeebo as beekeeprs and Jill Johnston and Chris Laban who managed the questions and answers from outside the Beezeebo.
The Apiculture Competition
The Hawkesbury Show Apiculture competition is the largest in NSW after the Nationals at the Roayl Easter Show. Accordingly it has a lot of entries. In recent years Hawkesbury Beekeepers have presence in the competition has been growing. This year was no exception with a very strong list of club members exhibiting with a high level of success.
It has been a big year for our beekeepers with club Membership Officer, Jill Johnston taking out the best small producer award with multiple firsts and placings across the competition. The full table of categories and placings is below.
Jack Mayhew who is the Chief Steward of the Apiculture competition said 2026 was the biggest number of entrants for more than 10 years,
with 30% more entries than 2025. This in a year when the Royal Easter Show Apiculture entrants contracted slightly. Jack concluded by saying in his first year as Chief Steward he was thrilled with the response from the beekeeping community and thanked Hawkesbury Club for its support in the competion and the show as a whole.
| Place | Name / Organisation | Member |
| Category B – Small Producers (<20 Hives) | ||
| MOST SUCCESSFUL SMALL APICULTURE EXHIBITOR | ||
| Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member | |
| Class 12014 – Liquid Honey, Light | ||
| 1st | Adam Brown | |
| 2nd | Aaron Guttek | |
| 3rd | Victor Bilokin | |
| Class 12015 – Liquid Honey, Medium | ||
| 1st | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Rosedale & Orange Anglican | |
| 3rd | Hawkesbury Bee Club | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12016 – Liquid Honey, Dark | ||
| 1st | Valeria Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Stephen Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Hawkesbury Bee Club | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12017 – Chunk Honey | ||
| 1st | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Stephen Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Valeria Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12018 – Candied Honey | ||
| 1st | Valeria Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Lynn Brink | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Valeria Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12019 – Creamed Honey | ||
| 1st | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Jacqueline Lea | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Jacqueline Lea | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12020 – Half Frame of Honey | ||
| 1st | Stephen Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Valeria Tolputt / Stephen Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12021 – Full Frame of Honey | ||
| 1st | Lynn Brink | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Jeanette Buhagiar-Vella | |
| Class 12022 – Cut Comb | ||
| 1st | Jill Johnston | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Michael Mifsud | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | — | |
| Class 12023 – Beeswax, 1 Block | ||
| 1st | Lynn Brink | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | Hawkesbury Bee Club | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Lynn Brink | Hawkesbury Member |
| Class 12024 – Beeswax, Decorative, Moulded or Sculptured (2 Models) | ||
| 1st | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Rachael Jones | |
| Category D – Cooking & Honey Meade | ||
| Class 12037 – Honey Cake made to specified recipe | ||
| 1st | Dallas Cook | |
| 2nd | Ros Hughes | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Jordan Johnson | |
| Class 12038 – Honey Biscuits | ||
| 1st | Bridget Logan / Richmond Agriculture COE | |
| 2nd | Kerryn Johnson | |
| 3rd | Linda Lennie | |
| Class 12040 – Plate of 6 honey slices to own recipe, max. 4cm square | ||
| 1st | Ruth Longley | |
| 2nd | Linda Lennie | |
| 3rd | Valeria Tolputt | Hawkesbury Member |
| Honey Meade | ||
| Class 12041 – Honey Meade, Dry | ||
| 1st | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Warwick Blackman | Hawkesbury Member |
| Honey Meade | ||
| Class 12042 – Honey Meade, Sweet | ||
| 1st | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 2nd | G & K Madden | Hawkesbury Member |
| 3rd | Todd Waring | Hawkesbury Member |