THEY burned the candle at both ends to get the show ready, but organisers and visitors waxed lyrical at its sweet success.

With many of the 153 entries in the Petersfield and District Beekeepers’ Association honey show coming in at the eleventh hour, there was a last-minute flurry.

And the fluctuating summer weather produced a poor to modest honey harvest, with bees starting to consume their own honey, leaving some beekeepers empty handed.

But, in the end, the entries from 32 exhibitors were an increase on last year, and judges Hazel Blackburn, Mary Harvey, Eric Piper and Chris Brunnen found much to impress them at The Triangle Centre at Liss.

Promising newcomer Guy Bradshaw won a first prize for his complex beeswax mould of a pair of dogs.

Another winner was a model of a classic shaped beehive created by a pupil of Rogate School.

The Blue Ribbon Award was given to Elizabeth Eveleigh by special guest Baroness Hooper, for a perfect pair of beeswax candles for the best entry in the show. Elizabeth was one of the organisers of the show, with David Parkinson, Elizabeth Eacott and Kirsty Loh.

Honey show manager David Parkinson said:?“The judges are volunteers and it is essential that exhibitors produce exhibits of a high standard to warrant the association engaging such eminent judges.”

The show depended on the honey harvest, with bees having to make 24,000 trips to nectar producing plants to produce one jar of honey.

“This puts things in perspective when 209 jars of honey were submitted for judging,” he added.