What Losing a Honey Tasting Competition Taught Me About Beekeeping.

A loss has a way of bringing your attention into focus. It makes you look honestly at what happened, what can be improved, and what you may have overlooked along the way.

On August 25, I entered and attended the annual Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association Black Jar Honey Tasting Competition. For those unfamiliar with the event, the “black jar” format means every honey sample is served in an opaque black cup. The honey remains completely anonymous, and its color is disguised from the judging process.

That means the competition comes down to one thing: flavor.

Beekeepers from across the Dallas area bring in honey from that season’s harvest to see whose entry will earn the title of best honey in Dallas, as judged by fellow beekeepers. It is a fun event, but it is also a reminder of how much the landscape, nectar sources, weather, and location can influence the flavor of honey.

Entering With High Expectations

Along with roughly 25 other beekeepers, I entered my honey with high expectations—just as I imagine every beekeeper did. I believed my honey had a real chance to stand out.

After all, when you spend countless hours caring for bees, monitoring hives, watching the weather, tracking nectar flows, and harvesting honey, it is hard not to feel proud of what your bees produce. Every jar represents a season of work by the bees and the beekeeper.

But, as it turned out, this was not my year to take home the top prize.

Congratulations to the Winner

The winner of the evening was David C., a new beekeeper with three hives on his property near Lake Tawakoni. Of those three hives, only one produced enough honey for him to harvest.

Yet with one productive hive and three bottles of honey, David took first place in a room full of experienced beekeepers—many of whom collectively manage thousands of hives.

As luck would have it, David and I were seated next to one another. We spent much of the evening talking about bees, hive management, and different beekeeping strategies. Being there to watch his excitement when he won was truly special.

It brought me back to 2017, when I received Rookie of the Year from the Metro Beekeepers Association. I remembered the excitement, pride, and gratitude I felt at being recognized by fellow beekeepers. There is something meaningful about those moments, especially when they happen early in a beekeeper’s journey.

David was genuinely shocked by the outcome. At one point, I told him, “David, you know what this means, right? More hives.”

I could not have been happier for him. His enthusiasm was contagious, and his win was a wonderful reminder that beekeeping is still an art—one that rewards patience, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the bees.

The Difference Between Single-Source and Blended Honey

So, what did losing teach me?

First, it renewed my appreciation for the art of beekeeping. A competition is not only about taking home a ribbon or a title. It is also an opportunity to taste how different hive locations and forage sources shape a honey harvest.

Second, it reminded me that a honey from one focused apiary may have an advantage in a blind tasting competition.

David’s honey came from one productive hive in one specific location. That can create a highly concentrated flavor profile, shaped by the forage available around that hive. Depending on the nectar sources in bloom, a single-location honey can taste bright, bold, floral, herbal, fruity, rich, or even a little unexpected.

That distinctive character can stand out in a tasting.

My honey, on the other hand, is blended from multiple locations. A blend can offer a broader, more complex palate, with flavor notes from several areas and nectar sources coming together in one jar. But blending also means certain individual notes may become softer or be overtaken by others.

In a black jar tasting competition, where judges are trying to identify the most memorable flavor in a small sample, a concentrated single-source profile can have an edge over a more balanced, multi-location blend.

Neither approach is inherently better. They simply offer different experiences.

The Lesson Behind the Loss

This competition reminded me that focus can be powerful.

A single apiary can capture the taste of one place at one moment in time. A blended honey can capture a broader picture of a region, combining the character of multiple locations into a more layered final product.

In this case, the concentrated profile won over the general-purpose blend. And that is a valuable lesson—not only for honey tasting, but for beekeeping as a whole.

The bees will always have something new to teach us.

Congratulations again, David. Your win was well deserved, and I am looking forward to seeing what your bees produce next season.

And for the rest of us? There is always next year.

Written by Robert F. Morrow, a Texas beekeeper and honey producer dedicated to caring for healthy bees, producing exceptional North Texas honey, and providing agricultural valuation services.