Honey Harvest Calculator - Pounds per Hive, Jars, Winter

Problem: you know the hive count, not the harvest

How much honey does a hive produce? Across the United States, USDA puts the average at 48 lb per honey-producing colony, from 27 lb in Oregon to 89 lb in Mississippi. Type your hive count, pick your state or enter your own pounds per hive, and the calculator returns the harvest in pounds, kilograms and gallons, the number of full jars of the size you sell, the value at your price, and how much sugar it takes to bring each hive back up to its winter stores.

The supers are full, jars are on order, and there are two questions at once: how many jars to buy, and how much honey to leave so the colony makes it to spring. Take too little and you are short of jars; take too much and you are mixing syrup in October.

Solution: one honey harvest calculator for both questions

Your state - optional. Sets the USDA yield per colony and the average price per pound if you leave those empty.
Number of hives - colonies you take honey from. Empty means one.
Honey per hive - your own pounds per hive from past seasons, or the weight of full supers minus empty ones. Overrides the state average.
Jar size - 8 oz to 5 lb by net weight, or half-pint, pint and quart Mason jars by volume.
Price per pound - optional. Without it the value uses the USDA average price for the state.
Winter target and stores in the hive - optional. A full-size hive, a nuc or your own target, and the honey the colony already has.

Jars you actually fill. Pick a jar by the net weight of honey it holds, 8 oz to 5 lb, or a half-pint, pint or quart Mason jar, which the calculator converts from volume at 11.96 lb per gallon.

A table of what-ifs. The same hives at 25, 50, 75 and 100 lb per hive, plus your own figure, so a weak or a bumper season is one glance away.

Winter shortfall in sugar. The gap to the target in pounds of honey, then the sugar and water for a 2:1 fall syrup.

USDA yields, a cup of honey and a Cornell winter

Yields and prices are from the annual Honey report of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service: yield per honey-producing colony and the average price per pound for each published state, plus the national figure and the remaining states combined. Two notes in that report matter for a backyard beekeeper. A colony moved between states is counted in each of them, so the national yield may be understated, and colonies from which no honey was taken are left out. The price is what producers received across cooperative, private and retail sales together.

Gallons come from USDA FoodData Central, where a cup of honey weighs 339 g. That is 1.43 grams per milliliter, or 11.96 lb per US gallon, and a quart Mason jar holds about 2.99 lb.

The winter targets are Cornell University's: a full-size hive, two deep Langstroth boxes or the equivalent, needs at least 80 lb of honey, and a nuc no less than 50 lb. Those figures come from New York winters. If your local extension office or club gives a different figure for your climate, choose your own target. Cornell's fall feed is cane sugar and water at 2:1; a 1:1 syrup makes the bees evaporate more water, and feeding has to happen while they still fly. Once they cluster, liquid feed comes too late.

The sugar figure needs one assumption, and the result says so. Honey is about 17.1% water, so at most 1.21 lb of stores can come from 1 lb of sugar. The calculator counts the shortfall on that dry-matter basis and calls the answer a minimum, because the bees burn part of the syrup while they process it.

How much to feed back before winter

Shortfall per hive and the 2:1 syrup that covers it, mixed by weight, as the calculator returns it. Weigh or heft the hive again after feeding; these are minimums.

Target	Honey in the hive	Short by	Sugar, at least	Water
Full-size hive (80 lb)	0 lb	80 lb	66.3 lb	33.2 lb (3.97 gal)
Full-size hive (80 lb)	30 lb	50 lb	41.5 lb	20.7 lb (2.48 gal)
Full-size hive (80 lb)	40 lb	40 lb	33.2 lb	16.6 lb (1.99 gal)
Full-size hive (80 lb)	55 lb	25 lb	20.7 lb	10.4 lb (1.24 gal)
Full-size hive (80 lb)	70 lb	10 lb	8.3 lb	4.1 lb (0.50 gal)
Full-size hive (80 lb)	85 lb	none	no feeding	-
Nuc (50 lb)	0 lb	50 lb	41.5 lb	20.7 lb (2.48 gal)
Nuc (50 lb)	25 lb	25 lb	20.7 lb	10.4 lb (1.24 gal)
Nuc (50 lb)	40 lb	10 lb	8.3 lb	4.1 lb (0.50 gal)

Five apiaries run through the calculator

One hive, no records yet. Everything empty. Result: the US average of 48 lb, 4.01 gal, 48 one-pound jars, about $146 at the USDA price.

Ten hives in North Dakota, quart jars. State average 67 lb per hive: 670 lb, 224 full quart Mason jars, about $1,266 at $1.89/lb.

Farm-stand seller. One hive, 60 lb taken, 12 oz jars at $8.00/lb: 80 jars and $480; with 45 lb left in the hive against a 40 lb local target, no feeding.

Full-size hive light in fall. Ten hives in North Dakota with 55 lb each against Cornell's 80 lb: 25 lb short per hive, at least 207.3 lb of sugar and 103.6 lb of water (12.42 gal) for the yard.

A nuc with nothing stored. Target 50 lb, stores left empty: at least 41.5 lb of sugar and 20.7 lb of water.

Honey per colony by state, the quick reference

USDA yield per honey-producing colony and average price received per pound, with what one hive at that yield is worth and holds in gallons. These are the defaults the calculator uses when you choose a state; they change with each annual report.

State	Yield per colony	Price per lb	One hive worth	One hive holds
United States average	48 lb	$3.05	$146	4.01 gal
California	35 lb	$2.57	$90	2.93 gal
Florida	32 lb	$3.94	$126	2.68 gal
Georgia	32 lb	$3.68	$118	2.68 gal
Idaho	29 lb	$2.07	$60	2.43 gal
Iowa	62 lb	$5.43	$337	5.18 gal
Louisiana	53 lb	$2.47	$131	4.43 gal
Michigan	42 lb	$3.27	$137	3.51 gal
Minnesota	50 lb	$2.38	$119	4.18 gal
Mississippi	89 lb	$2.32	$206	7.44 gal
Montana	85 lb	$2.18	$185	7.11 gal
New York	56 lb	$5.14	$288	4.68 gal
North Carolina	42 lb	$7.99	$336	3.51 gal
North Dakota	67 lb	$1.89	$127	5.60 gal
Ohio	45 lb	$6.45	$290	3.76 gal
Oregon	27 lb	$2.09	$56	2.26 gal
Pennsylvania	57 lb	$4.33	$247	4.77 gal
South Dakota	40 lb	$2.44	$98	3.35 gal
Texas	30 lb	$3.91	$117	2.51 gal
Washington	31 lb	$4.36	$135	2.59 gal
Wisconsin	30 lb	$4.52	$136	2.51 gal
Other states combined	49 lb	$3.75	$184	4.10 gal

What beekeepers ask about the harvest

How much honey per hive per year is normal?

The USDA national figure is 48 lb per honey-producing colony, and state averages run from 27 to 89 lb.

How much honey should I leave in the hive for winter?

Cornell's figure for a full-size hive is at least 80 lb, and at least 50 lb for a nuc, set for a New York winter. For another climate, enter the figure your local extension office or club recommends as your own target.

How many jars do I need for 50 pounds of honey?

50 one-pound jars, 66 twelve-ounce jars, 100 eight-ounce jars, or 16 quart Mason jars. The calculator counts only full jars.

How much does a gallon of honey weigh?

About 11.96 lb, from USDA's 339 g per cup. Honey with more water in it is a little lighter.

Is the 2:1 syrup by weight or by volume?

The calculator mixes it by weight: 2 lb of sugar to 1 lb of water. Cornell gives the ratio without a unit, so if you mix by volume, measure the sugar figure on a scale anyway.

Why is the USDA price lower than what I charge?

It is the average producers received across all sales, bulk drums included. Enter your own price per pound for a jar-by-jar figure.

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