Terms
- The Federation Cup shall be an inter-county competition for products of the hive.
- The Founder Member Associations of the Federation Cup shall be Huntingdonshire,
North Buckinghamshire, North Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. - A Committee shall be formed of the Honey Show Secretaries of each Member
Association. - After a majority vote of the Committee at any point, the Committee may co-opt any
others onto the Committee as they see fit. This vote may be conducted by email,
telephone, or in person at a Committee meeting. - Only Member Associations of the Federation Cup may enter the competition.
- After a majority vote of the Committee at any point, the Committee may invite other
County Associations to join. This vote may be conducted by email, telephone, or in
person at a Committee meeting. - There shall be no charge to enter the competition.
- The Rules of the Competition will be as below. After a majority vote of the
Committee at any point at least 30 days before the next competition, the Rules may
be amended. This vote may be conducted by email, telephone, or in person at a
Committee meeting. - The competition will be hosted in 2016 at the Great Gransden Show. Thereafter, the
competition will be hosted at the Honey Show of Member Associations in turn, in
alphabetical order. - The hosting Member Association will be responsible for the organisation of the
competition, including notification of staging procedures, distribution of labels for
entries etc., purchase of medals, one for each class, for their distribution to winning
entrants, and for the engraving of the cup with the name of the winning Association.
Entry labels will be identical to those of the hosting Honey Show. (Classes may be
called eg FCA, FCB, to distinguish them from classes in the host show.) - The Honey Show Secretary of the winning Member Association will be responsible
for safe keeping of the cup for the following year. - If a Member Association has not submitted any entries for three consecutive
competitions, their membership of the Competition shall lapse.
Competition rules
- There will be seven classes in the Federation Cup.
- In each class, five points will be awarded for the first prize, four for second, three for
third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Joint positioning (eg ‘equal first’) is not
permitted. - The winner of the cup will be the Member Association with the greatest number of
points. In the event of a tie, the winner of the Cup will be the Member Association
with the highest number of points for liquid honey. - All exhibits shall be products of hives owned by the Member Association’s members,
or by the Member Association itself, with the exception of wax for rolled candles,
which may be purchased. - Exhibits may bear marks of having been tested by a judge in one previous show: set
honey may have a divot where it was sampled; one candle may be partially burned,
the frame of honey may have a cell opened by the judge. - The Federation Cup will be judged after all entries in the hosting show have been
judged. The hosting Member Association may move entries from their own show
into the Federation Cup after their own show has been judged. Prior to commencing
judging the Federation Cup, the judge should confirm with the Member Association
that any changes required have been made. - No labels other than the identification labels for each class should be affixed to any
exhibit.
Classes
- Two 454g (1lb) jars of light or medium liquid honey. The jars should match in all
respects. Mould marks are not relevant. The jars and lids should be glass or plastic,
with standard gold lacquered metal, or gold plastic screw tops or twist-offs. Labels
shall be affixed on jars to allow between 10 and 15 mm between the bottom edge of
the label and the bottom of the vessel. - Two 454g (1lb) jars of naturally granulated or set (creamed) honey. The jars and lids
should match in all respects. Mould marks are not relevant. The jars should be glass
or plastic, with standard gold lacquered metal, or gold plastic screw tops or twistoffs.
Labels shall be affixed on jars to allow between 10 and 15 mm between the
bottom edge of the label and the bottom of the vessel. - Two 454g (1lb) jars of chunk honey. The jars and lids should match in all respects.
Mould marks are not relevant. The jars should be glass or plastic, with standard gold
lacquered metal, or gold plastic screw tops or twist-offs. Labels shall be affixed on
jars to allow between 10 and 15 mm between the bottom edge of the label and the
bottom of the vessel. Chunk honey jars should contain approximately 50% capped
comb containing liquid honey, i.e. one piece of comb which will just fit into the jar
without damage and topped up with runny honey of a similar type. - One frame of liquid honey capable of being extracted. Frames should be displayed
in a glass case. Labels should be placed at the right top corner of the vertical
transparent face of the case and a duplicate on the top of the horizontal bar of the
frame or section. - Three small blocks of wax, between 25g and 30g each. The three blocks should
match in all respects. Wax may be exhibited polished or unpolished at the discretion
of the exhibitor. Blocks should be placed on an A4 piece of card (to be supplied by
the exhibitor). The label should be placed in a corner of the card. - Two matching candles of any type. One candle may be lit by the judge. Labels
should be affixed near to the base of the candle. Candles should be exhibited in
candlesticks, if appropriate. - One bottle of mead, metheglin or melomel. No alcohol may be added to Metheglin
or Melomel, nor may alcohol or flavouring be added to Mead, but additions such as
acids, nutrients and tannin may be used. Entries must be shown in clear, colourless
glass, punted bottles of approximately 75cl (26 fl ounces) capacity, without lettering
of any kind, capable of being opened without a corkscrew. Bottles with shallow
punts are acceptable, as are screw-cap bottles. Melomel or metheglin should list
flavouring used on a card adjacent to the exhibit. Labels shall be affixed on bottles to
allow between 10 and 15 mm between the bottom edge of the label and the bottom
of the vessel.