Honey comes out of the extractor by the bucket, but it sells by the jar. The crop estimate is hives times frames pulled per hive times pounds per frame — a medium frame holds three to four pounds capped — and the jar count is that crop divided by the jar size, rounded down. The partial jar at the end is the one the beekeeper keeps.
Six hives with 8 frames each at 3.5 lb a frame is 168 lb of honey — 168 one-pound jars, with nothing left over on this one.
The example
Three yards, three jar sizes. The 12-oz jar is 0.75 lb, and it is where partial jars start showing up.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yard | Hives | Frames each | Lb/frame | Jar (lb) | Crop lb | Jars |
| 2 | Home yard | 6 | 8 | 3.5 | 1 | 168.0 | 168 |
| 3 | Farm outyard | 12 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 360.0 | 180 |
| 4 | Rooftop | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0.75 | 48.0 | 64 |
The formula
Crop weight first, because you will weigh the buckets and want to check it, then jars:
How it works
Three multiplications and a division that rounds the wrong way on purpose:
B2*C2is frames pulled across the yard. Only count capped, harvestable frames — not the brood frames and not the ones you leave for winter stores.*D2multiplies by pounds per frame. Mediums run 3 to 4 lb; deeps 6 to 8. Use your own extractor history./E2divides by jar size in pounds. A 1-lb jar is 1; a pint is about 1.5; a 12-oz jar is 0.75.ROUNDDOWN(...,0)keeps whole jars. 48 lb in 0.75-lb jars is exactly 64; 50 lb would be 66 with a partial jar left.
Order jars and lids from this number plus a few percent for breakage — but order the labels from the jar count exactly, because a label with the wrong weight on it is a legal problem, not a rounding one.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter hives, harvestable frames per hive, pounds per frame, and the jar size.
Variations
Revenue at market
Whole jars times the jar price. The leftover honey is not revenue until it is in a jar.
Jars in ounces
If you think in ounces, divide the crop in pounds by jar ounces over 16.
Pitfalls & errors
Honey is sold by weight, not volume. A 16-oz jar holds about 22 oz of honey by weight because honey is dense. Label by net weight and set the jar-size cell to the weight the jar actually holds.
Uncapping and extraction lose 3 to 5 percent to cappings and what stays in the extractor. Either lower the pounds-per-frame figure to a net number or multiply the crop by 0.96 before dividing.
Do not round up. A partial jar cannot be sold at full weight, and ROUNDUP tells you to buy a label for a jar that will be short.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How many frames can I take from a hive?
What if I use different jar sizes from the same crop?
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