Practical beekeeping – Honey packaging and labelling - Issuu (2024)

FAQs

What is the method of packaging honey? ›

Honey may be directly bottled into small retail containers or into large drums for storage or export, depending on the intended market. Packaging is a necessity for maintaining the quality; safety and integrity of raw as well as processed products from the farm or plant to consumption.

A strong hive can be home to 50–100,000 bees during the peak of the summer. Do a little quick math, and you see how beekeepers arrive at an average of 60lbs. of honey per hive, per year. With the right weather and the right beekeeper, some hives can even produce 100lbs.

For most retailing of pure honey, the preferred packing material is glass followed by plastic or, for large quantities, metal containers coated with materials appropriate for contact with acidic food. In any case, the containers have to have a secure airtight lid. Screw top lids on glass jars are the most secure.

It is important to store honey in airtight containers because it helps to protect the water content of the honey. If water is allowed to evaporate and the water is thus extracted from the honey it will crystallize quicker. If water is allowed to enter the honey then it will have high chances of fermentation.

Glass or plastic jars

Glass jars are considered to be the most desirable and attractive packaging for honey. However glass jars are not always available, they are heavy and break easily. Plastic is a good alternative providing that high quality, foodgrade plastic jars, with well-fitting lids are used.

Honey can be stored in plastic bottles, provided the containers are air and moisture tight. Ensuring a sterile filling environment will prevent unwanted particles from entering containers that can lead to organic matter growth in a product. PET plastic bottles are used in a variety of food packaging applications.

We usually get six or seven jars from one frame and here we've filled up three jars from half a frame of honey. And something you can do with the Flow Hive easily is just harvest a little bit and leave the rest for the bees.

Bees, like many insects, see from approximately 300 to 650 nm. That means they can't see the color red, but they can see in the ultraviolet spectrum (which humans cannot).

One bee colony can produce 60 to 100 pounds of honey per year. An average worker bee makes only about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. At the peak of the honey-gathering season, a strong, healthy hive will have a population of approximately 50,000 bees.

Bacterial spores, particularly those in the Bacillus genus, are regularly found in honey. The spores of C. botulinum are found in a fraction of the honey samples tested-normally at low levels.

Can a honey pack go bad? ›

Can Honey Go Bad? When it's stored properly, honey never goes bad, Grad said in an interview with Allrecipes. "Honey will darken and/or crystallize, but it is still safe to eat," she said. Metal or plastic containers can oxidize the honey, and heat can change its flavor.

Glass jars with lids are also ideal for storing honey as long as the lids are on tight so the honey won't be exposed to air, while not being used. It isn't recommended to store your honey in non-food plastic containers or metal containers because they can cause honey to oxidize.

Glass is non-permeable unlike plastic, and you can see the contents to initially judge the quality and overall appearance. Aside from the possibility of glass breakage, which is very low when handled with care, glass is safer for honey storage than plastic.

Always store your honey in an airtight, glass container. Otherwise, the hygroscopic (water-loving) sugars in the honey will absorb moisture from the air, leading to the growth of undesirable yeasts.

Honey packaging process

The packaging process consists of introducing the honey into the packaging machine. Undergoing a pasteurization process, honey is heated at high temperatures for 1-2 minutes to melt glucose micro-crystals that act as nuclei that are the essential starting points for crystal formation.

Honey is most commonly packed in glass jars of 450 or 500 grams, or of one-pound weight, and different nations have their own norms for honey marketing. In central and eastern Europe honey is sold in one kilogram jars, and in the Caribbean, recycled rum bottles are the accepted norm for honey marketing.

Typically a polypropylene micro filter of 80 μm is used as a filter medium. ➢The honey temperature is maintained between 50–55°C, which prevents the melting of the beeswax. ➢ Large-scale processors subject honey to coarse filtration, centrifugal clarification, fine filtration, and blending, prior to filling.