New Soap For The Honey Show

Hi, This is Adriana, the beekeeper from South Mountain Bees.

It's definitely cold out there. This morning we woke up to 11ºF (-11ºC), and it didn't get much warmer for the rest of the day. I put some water in the bird bath that the robins enjoyed for a few minutes, and within an hour it was solid. Pure ice.

Anyhow. There's plenty to do indoors.

I've been preparing for the New Jersey Honey Show. Submissions are due on January 30th.

I plan to submit entries for soap, lip balm, photography and honey, of course.

The New Jersey Honey Show is an annual event for beekeepers in New Jersey to showcase the products from their honey bee hives in front of the agricultural community and related government officials. It is held every February to coincide with the New Jersey Agricultural Convention.

Judges usually from other regions travel to New Jersey to judge entries in 24 categories that range from honey to cosmetics, candles, mead and beer.

Besides the fun of the competition, and the chance to show our best, the Honey Show plays an important role in bringing awareness in the community of the importance of the honeybee in the state's economy.

People often forget that those delicious blueberries make it all the way to their homes thanks to the honeybee. Commercial beekeepers bring beehives to crops when the blueberry plants are in bloom, and the bees do the hard work of going flower to flower carrying pollen to make sure that every one of them is pollinated, and will yield fruit.

So next time you have a blueberry muffin, pancakes with blueberry preserve, or delicious fresh blueberries, say thank you to the bees.

Back to the competition. This is the soap I am submitting this year. It looks pretty, doesn't it? It smells great too. Love the rosemary essential oil.

Here's a video of the fresh raw soap when I put it in the freezer to set.

 Why did I put it in the freezer? you might ask.

Here's why. Left at room temperature, soap goes through a stage called gel phase, where the soap reaches up to 180ºF (82ºC), and a soap that has beeswax and honey can become dark (from beige to a light brown color) at such temperatures. By putting my soap in the freezer, the gel phase is arrested, and the soap has a light creamy color, where the decorations can stand out.

Did you know that?

This is a limited edition soap, if you want to pre-order these soaps, here's the link. They will be available in early February. Don't miss out!