‘Mother Bee’ Terry McDaniel Wins Nine State Fair Ribbons

This year, Terry McDaniel—and the sweet products of her honeybees’ labor—earned plenty of accolades at the Minnesota State Fair.

The Inver Grove Heights beekeeper had 12 entries in the Honey and Bee Culture division, and she won a grand total of nine ribbons.

McDaniel is relatively new to beekeeping; four years ago, she started with one hive and some used equipment she purchased from another beekeeper she met on a cross-country skiing trip. Now, McDaniel has three hives—and a retinue of faithful fans who love the honey her bees produce.

“[When I first started] I had no idea it was so interesting,” McDaniels said. “After I harvest, I put a note on Facebook, and it's all sold in a few days. I need more hives to support all my raw honey lovers.”

You can’t walk through the honey and bee culture portion of the Agriculture and Horticulture building without seeing McDaniel’s exhibits—and ribbons. This year, McDaniel created an educational display about the Varroa Mite—a parasite that attacks honeybees. The display, which includes a seven-minute video demonstrating how McDaniel used non-chemical methods to treat the parasite, earned the beekeeper a blue ribbon. But McDaniel’s accolades don’t stop there.

She also took second place in the 10-12 oz. squeeze containers, liquid, novice class; a second place award for one of her extracting frames of honey; third place in the 10-12 oz. squeeze containers, liquid, open class; third place an egg decorated using the beeswax process; a third place sweepstakes award; fourth place for a photograph of beekeepers; and fifth place for a photograph of honeybees. Finally, she also won fourth place in the white honey open division—a highly competitive field.

“I was pretty proud of that ribbon,” McDaniel said. “The competition is tough, and this year—with this high humidity—it was hard for the honeybees to evaporate the water out of the honey to make a nice Minnesota State Fair quality honey.”

Judges at the state fair rate honey on the appearance and cleanliness of the container, color, volume, absence of impurities, percentage of moisture, clarity and flavor.

McDaniel’s passion for honey cultivation knows no bounds, according to her sister-in-law Judy Albertson.

“She is crazy about having hives and getting honey. She’s taught kids in her neighborhood about it. She’s bottled the honey up and sold it to friends and family because everyone loves it. I’ve given them to everyone in my book club, and now they don’t want little presents anymore—they just want the honey [as gifts]. It is very, very excellent honey,” Albertson said.

What makes McDaniel’s honey so exceptional? 

“Tender loving care, I guess,” said Albertson. “She knows just what flowers to use for the bees, and every aspect about them. She’s very careful about harvesting, and she’s always educating people about where honey comes from, and [the fact that] without honeybees, we wouldn’t have the foods we have. She’s very concerned about caring for her honeybees. She’s ‘Mother Bee’ – she really is,” Albertson said.

On Monday, Sept. 5, you can watch McDaniel volunteering to extract honey in the honey and bee culture area of the Minnesota State Fair Agriculture building at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.