# Sanitizing Honey Jars



## kbee's (Mar 16, 2014)

I plan to extract honey today. It will be my first time and I was wondering how to sanitize the plastic honey jars.


----------



## woodedareas (Sep 10, 2010)

This is a frequent question mostly related to glass jars. I do not sanitize either glass or plastic. I used to place glass jars in the dishwasher, and I assume you could do the same for plastic. Then there are the covers? It really depends on how many jars you have and the amount of time you have. In either case they must be very dry.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

New, right out of the box? No need to sanitize. They already are. Manufactured and packaged for immediate use.

Caps too, right out of the box.


----------



## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

You will find lots of information on this in the archives.

Some people treat new plastic from the factory as good to go and don't take any sanitizing steps.

Me, I use glass and boil. I don't suggest boiling plastic.

You might check with your local Cooperative Extension about sanitizing food containers in NC.


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

A few years back my wife and I used some plastic jars for some ice box pickles. The containers we used were shipped ready to use, and that was stated in the shipping materials. We haven't used them since then, but they worked great. I would bet they are good to go out of the box.


----------



## Cantrellc123 (Jan 15, 2013)

I'd try a couple in the dishwasher and if they handled the heat that would be my plan.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Unnecessary. But if it makes you feel better go ahead. I just hate seeing anyone waste time.


----------



## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

We buy new plastic queenline jars from Simpson I talked to them when I started and they told me they were shipped ready for use. as honey is an antiseptic It seems reasonable. it simply would be too time consuming to wash 1000 one pound jars. When we used mason jars we use to just run them through a dish washer.


----------



## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

As far as new glass canning jars goes, there is a residue inside them that does not come off in the dishwasher. We hand wash our new canning jars for this reason. It seems to be an oily residue.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Another reason to use jars made for putting honey in, besides visual association, you don't have to do that w/ honey jars or plastic containers. No residue.

Is that a mold release material in the canning jars? I wonder why canning jars are like that?


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

Honey bears melted in my dish washer. Ball says to sterilize canning jars before putting up fruits and veggies guess it should bee the same for honey.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

mac said:


> Ball says to sterilize canning jars before putting up fruits and veggies guess it should bee the same for honey.


"Apples and sedimentary rock." What do you store honey in between extractor and jar? Buckets? Do you wash them in your dishwasher? How do you sanitize a new or used 5 gallon plastic bucket and lid? 

I'm not advocating putting honey in dirty containers. New honey jars aren't dirty and honey is its own sanitizer. It doesn't promote or maintain bacteria. Canning fruits and vegetables, a different story.


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

soap bleach rinse same as a certified kitchen


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Brand new from your supplier too?


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

mac said:


> Ball says to sterilize canning jars before putting up fruits and veggies guess it should bee the same for honey.


A. Why does Ball recommend that?
B. Why doesn't any honey jar supplier? 

Ask Dadant, Gamber/Dutch Gold, Maxant, BetterBee, or Brushy Mountain what their recommendations would be. Ask them why each box or order of jars doesn't come w/ a recommendation on how to handle jars before filling them.

I hope I am not coming off argumentative. As I wrote before, do what makes you happy. WAshing can't hurt, just isn't necessary.


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> Brand new from your supplier too?


yes


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> Ask them why each box or order of jars doesn't come w/ a recommendation on how to handle jars before filling them.


 Good question. they don't have to ???


[/QUOTE]


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Not sure what you mean.

"[Because] they don't have to???" or "they don't have to[.]" "???"

They don't have to because they don't have to, aren't required to. Because washing jars made for bottling honey don't need washing before use.

I bet someone could find a video of honey being packed by Dutch Gold or some other large packer. I bet you will see jars being shot w/ a jet of pressurized air to blow any potential dust or whatever might be in the jar from handling, but no washing of jars during the packing process.


----------



## rolftonbees (Jul 10, 2014)

I use ball glass jars. I hand wash them in dish deternent water, rinse then boil. I remove them from boiling water lay on side on towels and they evaporate dry almost instantly due to the heat. I then fill them with strained honey. 

I figure that if this works for canning it works for honey. I only have two hives however and have pondered the plastic jars for future reference. In the mean time I store jars for other uses and see no need to diversify my holdings.


----------



## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> I hope I am not coming off argumentative.


You are. :lookout:


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> Not sure what you mean.
> 
> "[Because] they don't have to???" or "they don't have to[.]" "???"
> 
> They don't have to because they don't have to, aren't required to. Because washing jars made for bottling honey don't need washing before use.


Why does ball say to sterilize jars for canning?? Cause ya never know what they could be contaminated with. Ya don’t HAVE ta sterilize jars for canning.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Andrew Dewey said:


> You are. :lookout:


Oh well.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

mac said:


> Why does ball say to sterilize jars for canning?? Cause ya never know what they could be contaminated with. Ya don’t HAVE ta sterilize jars for canning.


And what could they be contaminated w/ that sterilizing would remedy? Bacterium. And agents that would cause food poisoning or unintended fermentation. Which honey by its make up and properties does not promote or sustain.

People do all sorts of things they don't need to for no real reason at all or because of false notions. If it makes you happy go ahead. There are a lot of things I am blissfully ignorant of and about too.


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> And what could they be contaminated w/ that sterilizing would remedy? Bacterium. And agents that would cause food poisoning or unintended fermentation. Which honey by its make up and properties does not promote or sustain.


 Well there are toxic chemicals used in a warehouse environment for pest management that could get into jars, dirt and dust from warehouse storage who knows what contaminants could be collected from being trucked across country or from overseas. Washing jars could be a good idea. Just wondering if ya wash your hands after using a rest room before putting up honey


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

mac said:


> Just wondering if ya wash your hands after using a rest room before putting up honey


I wash my hands after using a rest room before putting my hands on anything. That's just good personal hygiene.

I think my "problem" is one of communication. You and others use nonhoney jars for packing honey in, don't you? You use canning jars. I thought the OPer was asking about honey jars, jars designed and manufactured specifically for packing honey.

The way that honey jars, caps, and plastic containers such as squeeze bears and inverts are made one does not have to wash/sanitize them before use. How would one wash a squeeze bear cap w/ a safety seal in it anyway? Remove the seal, wash the cap, and replace the seal? Would you also wash the seal?

The seal is to insure against leaking honey, not to keep something from getting in, by the way.


----------



## mac (May 1, 2005)

yep original post was about honey jars have a good day


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

Way to go Sqkcrk. Your last post was very informative. Yeah, it would be a pain to take the check valve out of squeeze bottles and replace them.

On a light note, Gallager the comedian said men should wash their hands before using the bath room. He stated, "I get up in the morning and take a shower, drive to work and later go the bath room. Then I reach into my pants with my soiled hands that have been touching door knobs and such and handle my nice, perfectly clean man part. In order to keep the man part clean, shouldn't you wash your hands before going to the bath room?"


----------



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Mark is quite right on all counts. If one is reusing glass then a dishwasher would be a requirement I would think, I don't think it's ever recommended to reuse plastic. New glass is stored with the jars inverted, plastic containers and caps are in sealed plastic bags. Large packing facilities typically have a machine that inverts the containers and gives them a puff of pressurized air before filling. Good hygiene should always be practiced from keeping a clean dust free facility to washing hands and wearing hair nets.


----------



## cowdoc (May 15, 2011)

kbee's said:


> I plan to extract honey today. It will be my first time and I was wondering how to sanitize the plastic honey jars.


This question has developed quite a thread, but I will add a little anyways. I talked to the folks at Gamber to get some of the facts. 

They recommend NOT washing NEW glass or plastic containers. Glass is formed at many thousands of degrees and then cooled and put into clean boxes in a clean factory, so unless you have contaminated jars by storing improperly, there should be no need to wash. 

Plastic bottles start as a test tube shaped piece of plastic with the threads for the cap. They are heated too several hundred degrees and then air is blow into them to shape them to a mold (bear or bottle). The mold is cooled and the plastic has the shape of the mold. They are then put into plastic bags in a box and stored or shipped. If the bag is intact and the storage has been like this, then they do not need to be cleaned. When the plastic is heated above about 130 or so, the plastic has memory and it will try to return to the original test tube shape. Dishwashers are a definite no no for plastic bottles. 

The new bottles in their containers would be ready for use in many pharmaceutical operations. Their standards are probably higher than most honey packers. Honey has a high degree of acidity, very high osmotic pressure, and hydrogen peroxide by the nature of how the bees make honey. This makes honey very resistant to spoilage. Other foods that are canned do not have these protections, so are at risk of things like botulism that only take a few spores to make someone very sick, or even more common bacteria or protozoas that will spoil food. 

On a general note, when talking about disinfection, the term is often "cleaning and disinfection" because unless the disinfectant can touch what it is supposed to disinfect, it will not work. Organic matter will actually deactivate many disinfectants. Chlorine as found in things like Chlorox is a very good disinfectant, but you cannot put it in a boot bath and expect it to have lasting killing power since it is inactivated organic matter. The same thing might be better illustrated here by talking about disinfecting frames. You cannot put a plastic frame that has been used in a bath of chlorox and expect it to kill all of the AFB spores since they may be locked in the wax on the frame. 

Hope this helps. It has made us change what we recommend to people in our information.

Chris Cripps
[email protected]
Greenwich, NY


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

lazy shooter said:


> Way to go Sqkcrk. Your last post was very informative. Yeah, it would be a pain to take the check valve out of squeeze bottles and replace them.
> 
> On a light note, Gallager the comedian said men should wash their hands before using the bath room. He stated, "I get up in the morning and take a shower, drive to work and later go the bath room. Then I reach into my pants with my soiled hands that have been touching door knobs and such and handle my nice, perfectly clean man part. In order to keep the man part clean, shouldn't you wash your hands before going to the bath room?"


I've asked this before on other Threads. Why do some rest rooms have handles on the inside which make you pull them open to exit, when they could just as easily have the dor swing out and have no handle at all. No need to touch it w/ recently washed hands.


----------



## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Doors shouldn't swing out into hallways or traffic areas as you could take out someone walking by.


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

There is nearly always a trash can by a rest room door. Take one sheet of toilet tissue to open the door and leave it in the trash.

As an add-on:

Cowdoc you did good with the above information. That puts an end to this contest.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

cg3 said:


> Doors shouldn't swing out into hallways or traffic areas as you could take out someone walking by.


Truedat. Places I'm thinking of, truck stops for instance could be designed to not need doors. Home Depot rest room entryways have no doors. Which has nothing to do w/ washing jars, of course.

Thanks for a Vet's perspective. Would have been a different Thread had it been Post #2, but I am sure you are busy. Better late than never.

Gamber owns those molds too. Owns the design Rights to their Squeeze Bear and the 5lb round glass jar.


----------



## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

I'm still wondering what it would cost to pack in cans.


----------



## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

Our larger truckstops on the inner state highways do not have doors. Back to the honey containers, I am still with cowdoc. I know several veterinarians, and they are a well educated group of people.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Of course they are. They have to understand animals that don't speak well. Not "good", but well.


----------



## Cloverdale (Mar 26, 2012)

Andrew Dewey said:


> You are. :lookout:


I don't think Mark is being argumentative, people just aren't reading all the posts related to this post....I agree, honey jars do not need to be washed; so think of the properties of honey that was mentioned; we aren't canning food, we are filling honey jars specifically made for honey.


----------



## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

I WOULD wash new canning jars as I can smell a faint odor and could see the fine mist spray I talked about earlier. This can be seen by holding up the jar to light. It can be smeared! (not oil from my finger, either)

This residue did not come out by washing the jars in the dishwasher which was quite surprising to me.


----------



## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

mac said:


> Why does ball say to sterilize jars for canning?? Cause ya never know what they could be contaminated with. Ya don’t HAVE ta sterilize jars for canning.


When you canning your own food, you don't want to risk any possibility of food poisoning. That's why the directions on every box of canning jars says to wash the jars and the lids before use (note, not sanitize or boil). I am sure the jars are clean out of the box, but we always wash them in the dishwasher first, it is just good practice when you are canning. 

Putting honey in a canning jar is completely different thing. You are not really "canning" honey, you are just containerizing it. No need to wash the jars.

I don't think that you have to wash plastic bottles to store honey in either.


----------



## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

cowdoc said:


> Plastic bottles start as a test tube shaped piece of plastic with the threads for the cap. They are heated too several hundred degrees and then air is blow into them to shape them to a mold (bear or bottle).


Yup, plastic blanks. That is what is injected into the mold with air. These are soda blanks and are exactly what 2-liter plastic soda bottles start out as : http://www.flinnsci.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=15546

Home brews stores sell liquid yeasts in them and they have a lot of other cool uses.


----------



## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

We use mason jars and we do was them on sanitize cycle before using them. An unnecessary step? Maybe, but it gives me piece of mind and that makes it worth it. Yes it is an investment in time but they jars are very easy to find and I do not have to pay for shipping and can pick them up most any time we go to any grocery store.


----------



## tacomabees (May 2, 2013)

More answers from the xperts:

http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/storing-honey


----------



## cowdoc (May 15, 2011)

Bee Bliss said:


> I WOULD wash new canning jars as I can smell a faint odor and could see the fine mist spray I talked about earlier. This can be seen by holding up the jar to light. It can be smeared! (not oil from my finger, either)
> 
> This residue did not come out by washing the jars in the dishwasher which was quite surprising to me.


I asked about this as well since I had some jars that had this at home. I did not realize it, but glass is like beeswax in that it will bloom. 

That fine mist is a silica bloom. It tends to show up after extended storage, so bottles should be used in a timely manner (less than a year?). I have bought honey bottles for a number of decades and have never had any do this, but I do tend to use them up quickly. I have some old queenlines from many moons ago and they have not bloomed, but apparently some glass does. I just wiped this off and it looked fine. I did not really get a recommendation as to what do do about it other then use up the jars more quickly.

Chris Cripps
[email protected]
Greenwich, NY 12834


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Jaseemtp said:


> We use mason jars and we do was them on sanitize cycle before using them. An unnecessary step?


No, but the question posed in the original post was about Honey Jars, not jars used to put honey in. Right? Do what is appropriate, but don't do what is unnecessary. 

This is where we, as beekeepers, seem to fail to have a common understanding of terms. There is a difference between Honey Jars and jars that some people put honey in. Honey Jars were designed for and made for putting honey in. The others weren't. Honey was not in the mind of the designers who created the Ball or Mason Canning Jar. Not that they can't be used, just that they weren't specifically produced w/ honey packing in mind. Also, Honey Jars were designed for Industry use, to Industry standards, so they would stand up to being handled by machines. They had to be.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

tacomabees said:


> More answers from the xperts:
> 
> http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/storing-honey


Experts in "Home Food Preservation", not the bottling and storing of honey. I don't know why anyone would want to store honey in 3 ounce jars. Three ounces of honey is a sample siz e container, not a storage container. Not enough information in the question.

If you want to base how you handle all of your Honey Jars, fine. Just seems like poor advice for beginners to grab onto. But, better safe than sorry. Lest anyone think that washing any jar they wish to put honey into is unnecessary. I wash recycled Honey Jars. Or toss them in the bin w/ the household garbage recyclables.


----------



## L1truckie (May 12, 2014)

Being a beer brewer, brewing beer, ciders and meads, I use Star San for my fermenters, kegs, growlers and bottles be it plastic or glass. Its a no rinse sanitizer. 1 oz in 5 gallons of water, 1-2 minute contact time is all that is needed. I will fill right after shaking out the excess. you can find Star San at NorthernBrewer.com or maybe in the back of the Beek magazines with the mead supplies. Sanitizing is huge in the brewing world, it can make or break a beer. From responses here and and other threads its seems its probably not as paramount for honey.

Disclaimer: Being brand new at beekeeping I've never used Star San for bottling honey, but felt it warranted at least a response to your question and maybe a response from other Beeks who may also brew and use it or other sanitizers.

Prost!!


----------



## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

L1truckie said:


> Being a beer brewer, brewing beer, ciders and meads, I use Star San for my fermenters, kegs, growlers and bottles be it plastic or glass. Its a no rinse sanitizer. 1 oz in 5 gallons of water, 1-2 minute contact time is all that is needed. I will fill right after shaking out the excess. you can find Star San at NorthernBrewer.com or maybe in the back of the Beek magazines with the mead supplies. Sanitizing is huge in the brewing world, it can make or break a beer. From responses here and and other threads its seems its probably not as paramount for honey.


I use Star San to sanitize my brewing equipment, however I wouldn't waste it on honey jars, it's way too expensive. Your brewing equipment gets used over and over and there is a real danger of yeasts and bacteria growing in the nooks and crannies of your brew equipment. You just don't need that level of cleanliness for honey.


----------



## L1truckie (May 12, 2014)

Nabber86 said:


> I use Star San to sanitize my brewing equipment, however I wouldn't waste it on honey jars, it's way too expensive. Your brewing equipment gets used over and over and there is a real danger of yeasts and bacteria growing in the nooks and crannies of your brew equipment. You just don't need that level of cleanliness for honey.


Thanks for the added info Nabber, although I don't find it expensive, (its all relative really I guess) I didn't think honey required that level of sanitation either. Thank you as a fellow brewer for confirming that for me and the OP. I guess if people want to get super crazy with sanitation it would be a great product to try. Maybe we could we could a "yeast in a bottle" swap sometime :thumbsup:


----------

