First Time extracting - How Much To Get

[beek4018]

Just curious...

I'm about to venture into my first extracting endeavor with most likely 1 full shallow super and perhaps a few extra frames.

How much honey ( in gallons) can I reasonably expect to get from one full shallow totally full and capped?  I know it varies, but some estimate would help me order buckets, etc.

Also, let's say I'll get most of a half of a 3 gallon bucket.  When I bottle what will that come out to in terms of  1/2 pint mason jars, etc.?  by the numbers 3gal. is 24pints, but does the conversion work that evenly?  After straining/bottling do you get less for any reason that I'm not thinking of?

Also are 1/2 pint mason jars a bad way to go bottling wise?  Are they too big/small, etc.

I know a lot of this is personal preference, but I'd love to hear people's opinions for or against certain tings.

Thanks.

[bassman1977]

How much honey ( in gallons) can I reasonably expect to get from one full shallow totally full and capped?  I know it varies, but some estimate would help me order buckets, etc.

A 5 gallon bucket will be fine.  To give you an idea, I did 3/4 of a deep this year, and got about 3 gallons.

When I bottle what will that come out to in terms of  1/2 pint mason jars, etc.?  by the numbers 3gal. is 24pints, but does the conversion work that evenly?

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here.  Just have enough jars on hand.  I did pint jars with the above mentioned extraction and got 15 full pints and 2 1/2 quarts.

After straining/bottling do you get less for any reason that I'm not thinking of?

You're gonna have residual honey left in the cappings.  It's not that much that will make a huge difference though.

Also are 1/2 pint mason jars a bad way to go bottling wise?  Are they too big/small, etc.

I guess it depends on what you are going to do with it.  I found that pints sell better than quarts unless the buyer uses honey a good bit.  I like pints and I typically go that route for family/friends, etc.  I use quarts for myself or those who I know will purchase quarts from me.  Look into the plastic containers, like the bears.  They are cheaper than the glass mason jars last I looked.

[glenn c hile]

Some people prefer jars but they are heavy and break!  Plastic is much easier to deal with and everyone loves bears.  You can order a small quatity fairly inexpensively from the bee supply houses.

[jhs494]

If you are selling your honey, one gallon weighs about 12 pounds.  So a bottle that is made for honey that is a 32oz. bottle is actually smaller than a standard quart mason jar. I believe a standard quart mason jar holds about 44oz. of honey, or close to 3 lbs.
Be sure and know the weight of honey in the jar you use, otherwise you may be giving honey away too cheap.
JMTC

Joe

[beek4018]

Thanks.

Basically I'm a one hive operation, and just looking to give it away to friends and family.

So I'm leaning toward half pint jars as they are small, relatively cheap/easy to get at local grocery ( no shipping and markup from online suppliers) and easy to ship.

[bailey]

on average i have seen 3 gallons per medium super.
bailey

[Two Bees]

Agree with Bailey.  I pulled one medium super this past weekend to finish up the honey season and extracted 3 gallons.