Packaging Honey For Commercial Purposes - 4 Tips To Do It Correctly

1. How large beekeepers can make a profit
To be able to make a good profit large beekeepers cannot just sell their products within the local community but will have to spread their wings and get business from the super markets and grocery stores too. Only then can they cope with the financial expenditure and remain solvent financially. For this to happen the beekeepers have to pay heed to the packaging of the honey and other by products which should meet the standards set by SIRIM.

2. How do they decide on the packaging?
The container is what makes the package attractive and this is what the beekeeper has to bear in mind when thinking of the packing.

These packings can be in various types of containers like glass bottles, plastic containers and cans. The sizes of the containers can vary from a few hundred grams to several kilos.

The smaller containers come in attractive shapes and colors and can be reused for storing anything else by the buyer later.

Another aspect is to keep the bottles and containers firmly sealed so that they can be shipped to any destination without fear of leakage.

3. Labels are equally important as a visual effect
After the container has been decided on you will have to think about the label which is what makes the container colorful and attractive and gives the buyer details about the product.

Before designing the label or going to an artist who will help you with the design you should check with the government of your state about the laws that govern certain requirements.

This will decide about the information that you are supposed to put on every label. The name of the product, which in this case is "Honey", should be mentioned boldly on the label.

If you are using a distribution or packaging company their name and address as well as the name and address of your farm should also be on the label. Apart from all this the date of packaging the honey and the net weight should also be mentioned clearly. The size of the font on the label will be according to the size of the container and the label.

For those beekeepers who harvest honey of different flavors, the name of the flavor should also be mentioned on the label, as different people would prefer different flavors. Ig the honey is not filtered then you would have to mention that it is raw, natural or unfiltered on the label too.

4. SIRIM grades
The beekeepers who have the SIRIM certification will also have their honey graded and the grades will have to be mentioned on the labels too. These grades are based on the defects, quality of flavor, clarity and the amount of moisture in the honey.

honey value can be judged by five key factors

What is considered as good quality honey? Even after deciding that a certain floral variety of honey would be your most favourite type of honey, many of us are often still left with the question of “How do I choose the same floral variety of honey amongst all the countless brands of honey from all over the world, with a big range of prices in the market place?" When I am navigating through the maze of all the different honey in the shops, I look out for certain specific information to ensure that the honey I buy is value for money. Good quality honey, that is, honey of value can be judged by five key factors, namely:

1. Water content

Good quality honey essentially has low water content. Honey is likely to ferment and lose its freshness if the water content of honey is greater than 19%. The reason is that all unpasteurized honey contains wild yeasts. Due to the high sugar concentration, these yeasts will pose little risk in low moisture honey because osmosis will draw sufficient water from the yeast to force them into dormancy. In honey that has a higher proportion of water, the yeast may survive and cause fermentation to begin in storage. This results an increase of acidity, which then becomes an important quality criteria.

Honey is very hygroscopic, which means that it easily absorbs moisture from the air. Thus, in areas with a very high humidity it can be difficult to produce good quality honey of sufficiently low water content, which can be measured using a gadget called refractometer. Raw honey's moisture content can be as low as 14%, and is usually deemed as more valuable and hence is relatively more costly. Honey containing up to 20% water is not recommended for mead-making. One simple way of judging the relative quantity of water in honey involves taking two same-size, same-temperature, well-sealed jars of honey from different sources. Turn the two jars upside-down and watch the bubbles rise. Bubbles in the honey with more water content will rise faster.

2. HMF(Hydroxymethylfurfural)

HMF is a break-down product of fructose (one of the main sugars in honey) formed slowly during storage and very quickly when honey is heated. The amount of HMF present in honey is therefore used as a guide to storage guide to storage length and the amount of heating which has taken place. HMF's occurrence and accumulation in honey is variable depending on honey type. High levels of HMF may indicate excessive heating during the extraction process. Honey that is traded in a bulk form is usually required to be below 10 or 15mg/kg to enable further processing and then give some shelf life before a level of 40 mg/kg is reached. It is not uncommon for honey sold in hot climates to be well over 100 mg/kg in HMF. This is mostly due to the ambient temperatures (over 35°C) that honey is exposed to in the distribution channel. Some countries set an HMF limit for imported honey. You may also want to note the colour of the honey as it can sometimes be an indicator of quality because honey becomes darker during storage and heating.

3. Inverted sugars

High levels of HMF (greater than 100 mg/kg) can also be an indicator of adulteration with inverted sugars . Cane sugar or sucrose, is "inverted" by heating with a food acid, and this process creates HMF. Many food items sweetened with high fructose corn syrups, e.g. carbonated soft drinks, can have levels of HMF up to 1,000 mg/kg .

4. Impurities

For most consumers, good quality honey is expected to be visually free of defect -- clean and clear. Honey which has a very high pollen content appears cloudy, and the presence of many other contaminations such as particles of wax, bees, splinters of wood, and dust certainly does make it look unappetising and unappealing for anyone to buy and consume, and hence it appears as if it's of very low value. Unfortunately, no matter how much food value or health benefits some of these particles like pollen can offer, this kind of honey is hard to be associated with good quality honey and is immediately rejected by most consumers at the super-mart. And this explains why it's almost impossible to find unfiltered, raw honey on the shelf. Its cloudy appearance makes them commercially unattractive.

5. Colour

Honey is color graded into light, amber, and dark categories which do not really have any bearing on quality. Some of the most distinctively and strongly flavored honey varieties, such as basswood, are very light, while very mild and pleasant honeys such as tulip poplar can be quite dark. Honey color is measured on the Pfund Scale in millimeters. While it is not an indicator of honey quality and there are exceptions to the rule, generally speaking, the darker color the honey, the higher its mineral contents, the pH readings, and the aroma/flavor levels. Minerals such as potassium, chlorine, sulfur, iron, manganese, magnesium, and sodium have been found to be much higher in darker honeys.

Amazing Benefits of Honey!

Honey is far better than what most people perceive...

Discover the enormous benefits of honey; its pure, natural, and varied tastes and all the health benefits it provides. Its versatility and the goodness it can bring into your everyday practical life is WOW!

Not only does this delectable liquid stimulate your taste buds and whet your appetite, its unique taste and aroma has sprung off many time honor cooking ideas and recipes such as the cannot-be-missed honey baked ham and honey dips. But is honey really good for you? This caramel-like liquid seems to be full of calories. ...sure it tastes good and has a pleasant texture that coats the irritated throat, but is it no more than just a tasty placebo?

The fact is, researchers are turning up more and more new evidence of honey's medical benefits in all directions. The benefits of honey don't just stop at satisfying the palate; honey also offers incredible antiseptic, antioxidant and cleansing properties for our body and health, hot beauty and skin care tips for ladies, and amazing healing properties as a head-to-toe remedy, from eye conjunctivitis to athlete foot. Its powerful healing attributes have long been used thousands of years ago and known to promote healing for cuts, cure ailments and diseases, and correct health disorders for generations after generations. The renowned UMF Manuka honey, perhaps the tastiest natural medicine, is commonly cited in many discussions on health benefits of honey. This honey not only fights infection and aids tissue healing but also helps reduce inflammation and scarring. In addition, it is often used for treating digestive problems such as diarrhea, indigestion, stomach ulcers and gastroenteritis. The page, titled "In What Ways have You Experienced the Benefits of Honey?" is filled with eye-popping testimonies about the healing power of honey. I've lost count of the number of times I have accessed that page, but the stories posted there never cease to move and amaze me over and over again. With more and more health experts and theories, such as the Hibernation Diet, supporting its benefits, this oldest natural sweetener just keeps getting better.

One of the greatest pleasure and fascination in using honey is understanding the different floral varieties of honey, their appearance and quality, and experimenting with each of their unique taste and distinct flavor, and being able to know which floral variety of honey is most perfect for which kind of foods. The uses and benefits of honey in foods are as diverse as its floral varieties and places of origin. It is almost like acquiring wine knowledge through wine-tasting and getting information on the origin, quality and worth of the different wines. Very intriguing, satisfying, and even infectious! Besides all the pages on benefits of honey, perhaps one of the most well-received topics in this web resource is related to those exotic, tantalizing recipes which I have specially created and developed using honey. I think this is what makes the honey recipes here different from the massive number of honey recipes available out there.....exotic!

Honey Analyses In Malaysia

Honey Analyses

In Malaysia, honey is chiefly obtained from species of honeybees known as Apis dorsata and to a lesser extent Apis cerana. The amount of honey produced in Malaysia is very low as compared to countries like United States and U.S.S.R. As a result we still import large quantities of low grade honey from Australia, China and the United States. Honey production in Malaysia is largely in the area of Pontian and Batu Pahat in Johor, Bagan Datuk in Perak and Kuala Langat and Kuala Selangor in Selangor. This research is to fulfil the objective of obtaining sufficient data on local honey so that a recommendation of a local honey standard can be put forward.

From the results obtained, the minimum moisture content of samples analyzed was 19.4 while two honeys from an undetermined foraging area contained 24.8 and 29% moisture. This is very much above the required standard of 17% which means that all the samples cannot be kept from fermenting without pasteurization prior to bottling.

The HMF values of honey samples is below the standard required of not more 10 mg/kg of sample except for Belimbing-2 honey. The low HMF content can be attributed to the absence of heat treatment and being fresh honey. The diastase activity is also low compared to the average USA honey. This is probably inherent in local honey, since freshly harvested honey also had low diastase activity.

The main sugars of honey (fructose, glucose and sucrose) were within the range of the standard (5%) except for a Coconutcoffee honey sample which had a high sucrose content (7.16%). The pH of the honey samples was within the range of 3.53 to 4.05 giving an average pH of 3.9.

Work is continuing on the chemical characteristics of Malaysian honey to arrive at recommendations for a Malaysian standard. The standard will also help to increase the quality of honey in Malaysia.

Table 26:Development achieved by new colonies placed under banana and coconut areas (% increase between first and last recording after 1-3 months)

Table 26:Development achieved by new colonies placed under banana and coconut areas (% increase between first and last recording after 1-3 months)

		UNDER BANANA	UNDER COCONUT
Mean % INCREASE in:
	Comb area (x 800 cell)	121.1	25.7
	Honey cells	9,505.0	396.8
	Pollen cells	7,303.3	86.8
	Eggs	35.8	54.3
	Open brood cells	133.1	42.7
	Capped brood cells	13.1	170.2
	Colony strength (bee numbers)	127.2	55.9

Ainuddin, M.I. and Muhammad Muid 1986

Banana plantation as an off season and colony-strengthening apiary. (In Bahasa Malaysia] Undergraduate thesis. Faculty of Agriculture, UPM 53 pp.

Hashim, T. Muid, M. 1985

Kesan makanan tambahan terhadap perkembangan populasi lebah madu Apis cerana diluar musim pengaliran (Effects of food supplement on the population growth of honeybees, Apis cerana, during non nectar flow period). (undergrad thesis research). Jabatan Perlindungan Tumbuhan, Universiti Pertanian. 45 ms.

Sharif, A. R. Muid, M. 1985

Kajian kesan makanan tambahan terhadap, perkembangan koloni lebah madu, Apis cerana§ dibawah kawasan kelapa (Effects of food supplement on the colony development of Apis cerana under coconut holding). (undergrad thesis research). Jabatan Perlindungan Tumbuhan, Universiti Pertanian. 62 ms.

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Copyright 1997 © International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
reference@idrc.ca | Updated: 10 November 1998

Banana as a off-season apiary for new colonies

Banana as a off-season apiary for new colonies

Malaysian farmers are encouraged lately to cultivate large acreages of bananas for the export market and monocultures of bananas need to be assessed as apiaries (maintenance and production apiaries). Bee colony development in a banana plantation was thus assessed in relation to food sources. As a comparison, colony development in coconut which represents a typical Malaysian farmer's apiary site, was also simultaneously assessed.

Food for honeybees come as copious amounts of nectar and some pollen, although the latter is usually scarce in cultivated varieties. Anthesis occurs during hours of darkness and nectar available to bees in the morning can be reduced by bats, birds and ants.

Hives were inspected at about weekly intervals to estimate the number of cells with eggs, uncapped brood, capped brood, honey and pollen and also the numbers of bees (visual rating) and the addition of new comb (Table 26).

Some important notes from the study are as follows:

1. Mean nectar per flower of 4 cultivars (20 samples):

	QUANTITY		SUGAR CONTENT
Emas	- 1.2 ml.	-	16.5%
Berangan	- 0.7 ml.	-	14.4%
Rastali	- 1.8 ml.	-	14.8%
Embun	- 2.4 ml.	-	18.3%

2. Mean number of banana-hearts in the 4 hectare plantation:

= 461 hearts.

3. Mean number of flowers/banana comb:

Emas	- 19
Berangan	- 15
Rastali	- 10
Embun	- 14

4. Mean number of pollen loads (bee foragers) per minute:

Colony	no	4 - 10
	no.	5 - 22
	no.	6 - 10

5. Mean number of bees visiting a flower per minute:

cultivar Chematu - 3.0 bees

cultivar Mentalon Baling- 2.3 bees

6. Range duration of visit by a bee of each flower - 15 to 90 seconds.

7. Pollen identification:

Pollen identification and photography was done to identify foraged flora. Asystasia, Psidium and Mimosa pollen was identified in the pollen loads. Dissection of the honeycrop produced exclusively banana pollen in the nectar.

The main conclusion drawn is that colony development under banana was as successful as under coconut for small starter colonies at five colonies for 416 banana hearts. They thus can be apiaries for building up nucleus hives and as off-season apiaries.

Supplementary diet for a coconut area: syrup and a soya-based diet

Supplementary diet for a coconut area: syrup and a soya-based diet

Approximately half of the bee hives in the country is under coconut or crops interplanted with coconut. A smaller degree of dearth severity occurs when the other crops (coffee, rambutans, durians) are out of season.

A diet recipe within the range recommended by CBRI, India was used as a pollen substitute with sugar syrup (1 : 1). The pollen substitute contained the following (parts by weight), and fed at 30 g per hive per week.
1 powder of boiled, skinned soya bean
7 ground cane sugar, wetted for starchy final mix
1 egg yolk powder
1.5 skinned milk powder

The results (Table 25) show that comb area significantly increased when given syrup alone or when given a combination of syrup and diet. From this aspect alone both were thus beneficial to be fed to colonies.

In the honey results the significantly higher honey content in the syrup treatments only showed that the syrup was quickly transferred into the cells.

The pollen data showed that given syrup alone bees will forage significantly high amounts of pollen.

The number of eggs laid were not significantly different between treatments. Thus the prevailing food situation in the hive was not influencing the rate of egg laying by the queen bee. Subsequent brood numbers were thus expected to be affected by food although brood records were not kept to check this possibility.

The male capped brood data did not show significant differences between treatments. However two of the four replicate hives in the syrup plus diet treatment immediately produced very large numbers of capped male brood. This behaviour showed that the colony may be preparing to produce swarm cells and to divide. This did not happen when syrup was given alone. On this basis it not recommended to provide both syrup and diet to colonies under coconut conditions.

Thus it can be concluded that a coconut area colony would benefit from syrup alone while a non-coconut area colony should be given both syrup and maize pollen as food supplements during the rainy season.