Honey weight

[AndyJThompson]

Does a 1Ib honey jar fit 1Ib of honey inside it? I am asking because during honey extracting today I decided to weigh a empty jar with lid 203g and a full jar of honey 621g so that makes 418g of honey! But we label them with 1Ib or 454g bit wrong if you ask me!

 

[oliver90owner]

Does a 1Ib honey jar fit 1Ib of honey inside it?

I most certainly hope so! Trading Standards will be after you if you were to supply jars that short on weight!!!

RAB

 

[Hivemaker.]

You often have to fill a bit more if it's ling,air bubbles you know.

 

[Swarm]

What jars do you use? I use ordinary screw top jars and weighed the hardware at 3oz, so filled them up to 1lb 3oz gross weight. The honey level is somewhere around the bottom of the thread ..ie very full.

 

[Poly Hive]

Just a heads up.

In the eyes of Trading Standards it is equally wrong to over fill as to under fill.

Under fill cheats the customer.

Over fill gives you an unfair advantage over the competition!

PH

 

[AndyJThompson]

I have standard screw lid honey jars maybe my scales are out

 

[m100]

For reference a 12oz (340g) hex jar weighs around 225g

If you fill to the bottom of the neck then your jars will look underfilled but will be near spot on weight. Customers will think they are being short changed and any air bubble 'scum' will show on the shelf.

I specifically asked Trading Standards recently about overfilling - they say it's not a problem to overfill - the legislation makes no reference to overfilling with respect to marked weight.

If you part fill a 1lb jar with 340g of honey and mark it as such then that's not a problem.

Putting 390g of honey in a 340g jar (and even then there is still some airspace above the honey) isn't a problem even if the label says 340g

On a batch of 100 jars its nearly 12 jars less to fill - the only party losing out is the beekeeper - and as such there are some tight b'stards that fill to exactly to marked weight.

YARTSOMV

(Your anally retentive Trading Standards officer may vary)

 

[greatbritishhoney]

m100 - it is true that trading standards officers vary.

I know many many beekeepers that have had a telling off for over-filling. I don't know anyone who has been prosecuted for it though.

 

[Tom Bick]

I have standard screw lid honey jars maybe my scales are out

May well be.

By right your scales have to be officially tested and approved for trade use

 

[oliver90owner]

barranak'

It is not too difficult to check your scales for approximate accuracy. Weigh one or several one kg bags of sugar, or any similar items. As above, any weighing device should be certified as accurate by the powers that charge extortionate rates for use of a standard mass.

Get an old one pound brass, or cast iron, weight from the old balancing, fulcrum, type scales. Go to your local post office and check out the weight of that particular lump of brass and then check your scales. Store away the exact recorded mass of the weight and ocasionally check that the post office weighing machines are still giving the same result. If they don't, complain about it!!

Regards, RAB

 

[Frisbee]

Standard round 1lb honey jars can vary in weight by up to 30 grammes depending upon the manufacturer, so it may not be the scales that are wrong but one jar weighs more or less than another. The problems encountered by using second hand jars!

I used to sell a weighed food product at shows around the country. A big show would always get a visit from trading standards either wearing the health and hygiene hat or the trading standards hat. If it was trading standards then the scales would be checked. I'm lucky then my scales are stamped commercial with a good tare function.

I'm with PH on this one. I was told by more than one trading standards officers not to give over weight, although I scoured the blurb recently I could only find a passing reference to overweight. However my honey weights are what they say on the jar.

Even the old brass balance type weight should have a stamp underneath if they are correct weight.

It's as easy to do the job correctly as it is to get it wrong. It's also easier to look at the scales read-out than try to gauge how close to the line the honey is going

Take your scales to trading standards, they will quickly test them for you. Getting an official stamp though will cost.

Frisbee

 

[Poly Hive]

We bought a set of stamped weights, I thnk at the time they were about £100.

My comment on weight was not a personal one but passing on what the Trading Standards officer told me.

They did only visit the once though so I have to asume they were happy with our produce in the shops.

It is a fault though that many will not even recognise as such, and so fall foul of the law, and of course ignorance is no excuse.

PH

 

[huntsman666]

If you only extracted capped cells then 1lb of honey should almost fill a 1lb honey jar.

Uncapped 'honey' is lighter in weight due to higher water content.

Specific gravity (density) of pure honey is 1.4'ish.

 

[Hivemaker.]

If you only extracted capped cells then 1lb of honey should almost fill a 1lb honey jar.

Uncapped 'honey' is lighter in weight due to higher water content.

Specific gravity (density) of pure honey is 1.4'ish.

What about ling.

 

[peterbees]

I fill every jar on an electronic kitchen scale. Amazon sells scales from about £15. I tare the scales to zero with an empty jar, fill to 1lb and 1/4 ounce, and label 454g nett.

 

[huntsman666]

Heather might be slightly different but the principle basically is the same.

 

[Frisbee]

My comment on weight was not a personal one but passing on what the Trading Standards officer told me.

I know.......

This conversation has happened before. With exactly the same people saying it's not so.

I won't sell underweight and I won't sell overweight either

fill to 1lb and 1/4 ounce, and label 454g nett.

454g is 1lb, why do you put in the extra 1/4 oz?

Frisbee

 

[Ruary]

I won't sell underweight and I won't sell overweight either
454g is 1lb, Frisbee

From notes I made for Apimondia presentation in Dublin

Weight in grams
Abbreviation is g
Minimum size of lettering depending on weight.
If the E symbol is used then

• Average weight of lot must equal or be above specified weight.
• Minimum weight can be below specified weight.
• Actual weight must be not less, on average, than the’ nominal quantity’.
• Not more than 2½ % may be non standard ( I.e. have a negative error greater than T.N.E.
• for weights between 201g-500g TNE = 3% which for 454g = 13.7g
• So 97.5% must weigh more than 440.3g
• None may weigh less than twice TNE so all must weigh more than 436.6

Ruary

 

[Arfermo]

Does a 1Ib honey jar fit 1Ib of honey inside it? I am asking because during honey extracting today I decided to weigh a empty jar with lid 203g and a full jar of honey 621g so that makes 418g of honey! But we label them with 1Ib or 454g bit wrong if you ask me!

Got dodgy scales ?

 

[Arfermo]

I fill every jar on an electronic kitchen scale. Amazon sells scales from about £15. I tare the scales to zero with an empty jar, fill to 1lb and 1/4 ounce, and label 454g nett.

Get up to date with scales which read metric with no messing about!!! Frankly I save time and effort by simply overfilling by a smidgeon. What the hell I get enough cash for my honey - doesn't everybody?