BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Jar labelling - 'Lot' wording

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #8163  by jays_bees_2020
 09 Jul 2020, 22:49
HI, I am currently designing the labels for my jars, and am curious about the wording 'LOT', that has to be put on a label if being sold by another vender, do you have to use the wording 'Lot' OR can you use something else? ie the intials of the hive that the honey came from, and then write a number next to it?......
 #8168  by AdamD
 10 Jul 2020, 09:38
I believe that as long as the honey is traceable, it's OK how you manage it.

I did have a label where I could write a batch or lot number on it. But got fed up writing on the label and also I needed to change the best before date annually so I then changed to my current label which says "BBE see back" and has a label on the back of the jar from a price gun which I got from the local Bookers; it has space on it for a batch(lot) number of 2 digits, a hyphen and then a use by date of 4 digits. So the customer sees [19- 2023] for batch number and use by date. Local Trading Standards took one from a shop a few years back and were OK with it. They were also happy with my name and postcode - and not the whole address.
 #8171  by AndrewLD
 10 Jul 2020, 10:12
I did some research on this when designing my labels.
The Lot number is required to enable you to identify the batch of honey that was processed together so if there's a problem you can say return Lot No. XXX.
If you are a small producer and you can identify the batch by it's best before date because you only do one batch a day then you do not need a Lot number but your best before date will need to be a date and not just a month and year. Just keep a record of the honey you bottle on a given day and put the best before date in the record (usually two years from bottling)
The advantage is that you can have 500 or 1000 labels printed and buy a roll of tamper labels that say "best before" - then when I have bottled a 100 jars I can stick my labels on the jars and stamp the tamper label before fixing them to the lid-jar.
On my label it says Best Before - see tamper label. Then on the tamper label I stamp the date two years on using an indelible ink pad that you can order on Amazon (with ink replacement as well). Just be careful to use something to guide your stamp down onto the tamper label so you don't smudge or blur the date.
 #8175  by NigelP
 10 Jul 2020, 18:52
I use Avery printing software....now done online. Add lot number to each batch on the label....Loads cheaper...approx 1.5p per label (including laser printing costs). Takes a while to get templates lined up with printer, but once done a doddle. Laser printer essential as makes labels waterproof.
 #8195  by curly green finger's
 12 Jul 2020, 10:30
Hi, as far as I'm aware you don't need a lot number on your labels.
As long as you have a best before date I think this will surfice.
I use square half inch sticky white labels with the best before on the bottom of my jars.. No lot number but I keep records of which apiary and hive / super the honey has come from..
You allso don't need to put on the label about infants eating honey before there 12 months old it's not a requirement on the label.
If you leave the lot and bb date of your labels and hand write the date as I've done your labels will last indefinitely.
Regards mark