Taichung's "Bee Splendor" is unmatched! 43 beekeepers win awards in domestic longan honey evaluation

The Taichung City Agriculture Bureau continues to promote local bee products, and guided the Waipu District Farmers' Association to hold the "2024 Taichung City Domestic Longan Honey Quality Evaluation" on the morning of the 16th. Through instruments and professional sensory evaluation by judges, rigorous preliminary and final reviews were conducted. In the end, 14 won the Grand Prize, 27 won the First Prize, and 2 won the Excellence Award, for a total of 43 beekeepers receiving awards. The Grand Prize and First Prize honeys are all marketed under the "Taichung Bee Splendor" brand, while Excellence Award winners are given trophies (plaques) as encouragement, enhancing the quality and market competitiveness of Taichung bee products.

The Agriculture Bureau said the evaluation invited experts and scholars from the Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine of the Council of Agriculture, and National Formosa University, as well as honey tasters, to serve as judges, conducting sensory evaluation on items such as flavor, aroma and color. In the end, Chen Ming-huang, Hung Wen-hsiang and 12 others won the Grand Prize, Lin Chun-sung, Yuan Shih-han and 25 others won the First Prize, and Chen Chi-ting, Tsai Tsung-yen and 2 others won the Excellence Award.

The Agriculture Bureau pointed out that this year's competing honeys came from 8 districts - Dali, Taiping, Waipu, Wufeng, Beitun, Houli, Heping and Fengyuan - with a total of 45 entries from beekeeping production and marketing groups. A total of 44 honeys met general quality standards and were free of detectable residues of 2 categories and 11 types of antibiotics, as well as 383 pesticide residues, and entered the final sensory evaluation. The evaluation also cooperated with epidemic prevention measures, allowing judges to evaluate flavor, aroma and color at their own judging tables.

The Agriculture Bureau added that this year's abnormal climate was affected by drought. Longan flowers bloomed abundantly, but physical marketing channels were still hit by the epidemic. Therefore, through the evaluation, high-quality longan honey with Taichung City's unique aroma and flavor is promoted, allowing consumers to order directly by phone and safely taste "Taichung Bee Splendor," while also protecting the rights of beekeepers and promoting the sustainable development of the beekeeping industry. Information on the award-winning beekeepers is published on the Agriculture Bureau's official website ( https://www.agriculture.taichung.gov.tw/1766832/Lpsimplelist ). Ordering phone numbers are: Waipu District Farmers' Association (04-26832311), Wufeng District Farmers' Association (04-23303171), Houli District Farmers' Association (04-25565116), Dali District Farmers' Association (04-24068011), Taiping District Farmers' Association (04-22781148), Heping District Farmers' Association (04-25941880), Fengyuan District Farmers' Association (04-25524111), and Taichung Area Farmers' Association (04-22083899).