Southwest Arkansas Beekeepers Association Meets at Hempstead Hall

The Southwest Arkansas Beekeepers Association held their third quarterly meeting at Hempstead Hall on Monday evening. After a sign in with refreshments and a welcome, there was a demonstration led by Larry Kirchler. In the packet there was an article by Joli Winer and Cecil Sweeney on making flavored and natural creamed honey. This included the size batch, moisture content, temperature, what to use for a starter and what temperature to store at.

Larry Kirchler did the demonstration using Elderberry for the flavored honey. The practice can be scaled up or down depending upon the needs. Mr. Kirchler said he made many mistakes along the way.  The honey can be made in 10-15 minutes after a 48 hour preparation.  The regulations are not the same as regular honey as all the ingredients need to be listed. It is labelled as a home-produced product.

If the honey is set in the sun it will reliquify and the process will have to be repeated.

In response to a question it was noted bees will eat flavored honey.

After the demonstration, the meeting covered the minutes of the previous quarterly meeting, the treasurer’s report, announcements, and door a door prize drawing.

The meeting then adjourned.