How much honey does one super produce?

A fully drawn, fully capped Langstroth deep super of ten frames holds roughly 60 lb of honey at about 6 lb per frame. Mediums hold around 35 lb and shallows around 25 lb. Real supers are rarely 100% capped, so the average fill percentage matters a lot.

Why is extracted honey less than in-comb honey?

Spinning frames in an extractor never recovers everything — a thin film stays in the comb. We apply about 92% extraction efficiency, so a super holding 60 lb in the comb yields roughly 55 lb of bottled honey.

What is capped fill percentage?

It is the share of each frame that is sealed, ripe honey rather than empty comb, uncapped nectar, brood or pollen. Only capped honey is ripe enough to extract, so lowering this percentage lowers your estimate realistically.

How many jars will I get?

The tool divides extracted weight by jar size. Honey sold as a 1 lb jar weighs one pound, so 55 lb of honey fills about 55 one-pound jars or 110 half-pound (8 oz) jars.

How accurate is this estimate?

It is a planning figure based on typical frame capacities. Actual yield swings with nectar flow, how well the comb is drawn, and honey moisture content. Weigh your supers before and after extraction for an exact figure.

Beekeeping Honey Yield Estimator

Before you fire up the extractor, it helps to know roughly how much honey is coming off the hive — enough to buy jars, plan sales, and check your colony is hitting its potential. This estimator turns a quick inspection (how many supers, how full the frames look) into pounds of extracted honey and a jar count.

How it works

Honey weight starts from the comb. A fully drawn, fully capped frame holds a known amount that depends on the super depth:

deep ≈ 6 lb/frame, medium ≈ 3.5 lb/frame, shallow ≈ 2.5 lb/frame

Multiply by your supers, frames per super, and the fraction actually capped:

in-comb lb = supers × frames × lb-per-frame × (fill% ÷ 100)

Extraction never recovers it all, so we apply a 92% efficiency for what ends up in the bucket:

extracted lb = in-comb lb × 0.92

Jars come straight from weight: a “1 lb” honey jar holds one pound, an 8 oz jar holds half a pound.

Example

Two deep supers, ten frames each, averaging 80% capped: in-comb is 2 × 10 × 6 × 0.80 = 96 lb, extracting to about 96 × 0.92 ≈ 88 lb, or roughly 88 one-pound jars.

Notes

Be honest about the fill percentage — counting empty edges, brood or uncapped nectar as honey inflates the result. Honey is also dense (about 12 lb per gallon), so the volume looks small for the weight. For an exact figure, weigh each super on a luggage scale before and after extraction. All calculations run locally in your browser.