History - The Past
The State Fair
As early as 1895 the Horticulture Society accepted professional horticulture groups as affiliated members. The University of MN Horticultural Society emphasized the importance of all phases of horticulture in the development of rural and urban MN. In 1903 the MN State Agriculture Society was formed and by 1907 the first educational programs to promote agriculture began in a great wooded domed building (later the main agriculture building) at the MN State Fair. The Minnesota beekeepers were a charter member of that society when they began as an organization, over a century ago. The Bee and Honey Show has been a part of the State Fair for as long as anyone can remember.
The beekeepers would have exhibited honey and beeswax in a former version of today's Creative Activities Building before the formation of the MN Department of Agriculture in 1919.
Early Exhibits at the Fair
With the reconstruction of the Ag-Hort Building, a bee and honey exhibit was part of the Department of Agriculture exhibit. The Minnesota Beekeepers (later known as Minnesota Honey Producers) had a bee cage on the stage in that area. All their exhibits were part of the Department of Agriculture exhibit area. At the time Clare Floyd and Dr. Haydak worked for the Department of Agriculture. Their influence helped develop visibility for honey and bees at the State Fair.
The Bee Cage and Exhibit Areas Moved
When the Department of Ag decided to do away with individual commodity exhibits, (possibly in 1972) the bee cage and exhibit areas moved to the current wing of the Ag-Hort Building.
Honey VS Maple Syrup
Clare Floyd was the superintendent of the Bee and Honey area. He supervised the competitive exhibit and the honey sales area, as well as maple syrup. With the addition of the sales area, the Minnesota Honey Producers Association asked for removal of the maple syrup, which they saw as a competing sweetener.
A Separation of Power
The sales area and the competitive area were administratively separated, but remained physically adjacent, with the death of Clare Floyd.
Exhibit Area
In the fifty plus year history of the Bee and Honey Show, there have been just four superintendents: Clare Floyd, Percy and Mary Johnson jointly for seventeen years, Dan Hollerbach (1983-89), and Winnie Johnson since 1990. Competitive exhibits have included honey, beeswax, foods made with honey, bee photography and beeswax candies. Mary Johnson is to be credited with adding the beeswax candles and carvings, as well as the honey food categories to encourage the use of honey in baking and cooking.
Dan Hollerbach made a number of changes. He had the Bee and Honey wing repainted and re-arranged for better traffic flow. With the advice of Dr. Basil Furgala, he revised the scoring system for the honey show, including score sheets for entrants. Hollerbach added categories of rolled candles and Ukrainian eggs. Display cases, which were originally a competition of displays for use in a grocery store were changed to an educational display. Hollerbach had the stage enclosed with glass in order to add honey-harvesting demonstrations without attracting bees from the University apiary. A popular recipe from demonstrations was the Honey Caramel Corn, which is a Cracker jack type product. Under Winnie Johnson cosmetics containing beeswax were added as a category, reflecting the popularity of homemade soaps, lotions and lip balms.
Sales Area
The sales area has sold honey in jars, 60# tins (throughout the Clare Floyd days), and now in honey stix as well. Honey lemonade has been sold since Clare Floyd's days, as well as honey sundaes (vanilla ice cream served with honey on top.) With the increased production of sunflowers in Minnesota during the late 1960's, Clare Floyd worked with Northland to develop the sunflower/honey ice cream that is a favorite of many State Fair goers. It was later produced by Kemps and now by Marigold. The honey taffy that has been popularly sold for years is produced in Michigan.
After Clare Floyd, Dick and Marcy Hyser made changes to make the sales area the inviting and successful booth that it is. Bob Dressen and Fred Holte and Bruce Johnson have continued the management traditions of the sales area. It has been a successful fundraiser for the Minnesota Honey Producers Association.
Information Booth Area
An information booth provides a forum for questions and answers about bees and honey and pollination. It offers a coloring activity area for the younger crowd. It is an informal educational portion of the Bee and Honey Exhibit area where visitors can enjoy "live" bee cage presentations and "live" bee beards featuring Minnesota beekeepers, University of MN students or instructors, and our Minnesota Honey Queens or Princesses. The booth is maintained by Hobby Beekeepers, who are members of the Minnesota Honey Producers Association. Through out the years Wes Waring, Gus Onken, Pete Voss, Roger Olson and currently Bob Hutner have organized demonstrations in the live bee cage and volunteers at the information booth. What started as demonstrations of beekeeping has evolved to include a lesson on the varieties of honey and the importance of beekeeping to our food supply.
"Bee And Honey" Get Together Is G-R-E-A-T!
The Bee and Honey wing of the Ag-Hort Building during the MN State Fair spotlights honey better than any honey promotion in the state and arguably in the Upper Midwest.
