Muth Jars

[TheMasonicHive]

Hello everyone!

I know this is a bit premature but I am thinking forward to my honey harvest.

My plan is to give away most of my honey to my clients at work as a little thank you.  I'm kind of a stickler for presentation and I want a classic looking jar and I've come across the Muth Jar's on Dadant's website:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33_60&products_id=667

I LOVE these jars, but my question is, has anyone bought these before and are there any pro's and con's I should know about?

Thank you!

[buzzbee]

I love these jars with the corks in them. We have used them,only a few,but they are a nice antiquey looking jar. The corks fit well too. i have a few that are probablyy 30 years old used as a knick knack. Filled of course.
Brushy Mountain and Blue Sky bee supply also carry these.

[Natalie]

I love the looks of them and they work great unless your honey granulates.
With regular wide mouth jars even if it granulates you can still scoop some out for your tea or whatever but with the muth jars you are forced to heat it up and liquify it.
That may not be an issue for others. I just know because I bought some one time and it granulated pretty quickly and it was kind of a pain each time you wanted to use it.
Having said that, I still love the look of them and would use them myself if the honey was going to be used up in a timely fashion. I don't know how long the honey was sitting around for when I bought it that time.

[contactme_11]

They are cheaper if you buy them from Brushy Mountain

[sarafina]

Those are beautiful!  How many oz. do they hold?

[DBoire]

looks like 12 -8 oz. jars for $10.50     these would sell like hot cakes in metro NY!  Attach as label that expounds the virtues of natural/raw honey.

[buzzbee]

I think Blue Sky has as small as 4 oz. if you want a craft item

[annette]

I bought a carton of these to give as gifts. They are beautiful.

[TheMasonicHive]

The ones from Brushy Mountain are 3 bucks more expensive!

I really just think these will be beautiful presentation items for my clients.

Is it thicker or thinner glass?  The thicker the better I'd imagine!

[buzzbee]

These jars are pretty thick,similar to an old medicine jar.

[TheMasonicHive]

Awesome!  These are definately my choice!

Thanks everyone!

[TheMasonicHive]

I'm going to approach this topic again with a new question regarding these jars.

They are decorative and awesome, but the price is almost double what I would pay for other jars...which is fine, I know I'm sacrificing price for quality and presentation.

My question is, with honey going at somewhere around 8 dollars a pound, these jars hold 8 oz.

Would I be justified to boost my price on the honey to compensate for the jars, and also do you think this is something that people would be willing to pay the extra expense for?

[kathyp]

buy a few and do a test.  i am cheap and would not pay more for the jar if the honey is the same.  others are seduced by presentation.  where are you going to sell?  who will be buying? 
i know i could put urine in a fancy jar and sell it in town.  they'd think they got a treasure if it said "natural" on it.  not so much out here in the sticks 

you are justified in charging what you can get!

[TheMasonicHive]

I would be selling "in town".

Its not like buying fancy packaging on a TV dinner...it can be used for other things.  What could you possibly use a used plastic honey bear for?

[iddee]

>>>>My plan is to give away most of my honey to my clients at work as a little thank you<<<<

>>>>Would I be justified to boost my price on the honey to compensate for the jars,<<<<

                         

[TheMasonicHive]

Well, the more I think about it, I don't have a TON of people give this stuff away to.

The rest of course I'd want to sell in order to fund equipment for my next year.

[TheMasonicHive]

>>>>My plan is to give away most of my honey to my clients at work as a little thank you<<<<

>>>>Would I be justified to boost my price on the honey to compensate for the jars,<<<<

                         

Iddee, if I had enough clients to give away two hives worth of honey, I'd be a very very very very happy man and POSSIBLY the greatest salesmen to ever exist...no such luck.

[iddee]

Just pokin' a little fun at ya.

[kathyp]

you can get nice glass jars in bulk that are cheaper.  you can get smaller canning jars also.  the muth jars are great if they don't cut into your profit.  i reserve plastic honey bears for the little kids and travel 

[TheMasonicHive]

Kathy, I definately know I can get them cheaper, I just think these jars are WAY cooler looking.

I'm a city boy who buys pretty urine, so I guess maybe I just represent the average sucker around where I live haha.

[buzzbee]

Muth jars sure give honey and old fashioned ''holsum" look.

[annette]

Kathy, I definately know I can get them cheaper, I just think these jars are WAY cooler looking.

I'm a city boy who buys pretty urine, so I guess maybe I just represent the average sucker around where I live haha.

I am always attracted to special packaging, and I admit that I pay extra for it also

[Michael Bush]

I love them and they sell well and I sell them for a premium to cover my cost in jars.  I usually sell them crystalized.

[TheMasonicHive]

Michael thats EXACTLY what I was thinking about doing.

I'm glad to hear that people are doing this successfully!

[TheMasonicHive]

Obviously it would be my assumption that you pour the honey in and let it crystalize in the jar?

[kbfarms]

Last year I sold these jars (8 oz) for $7.00 each at craft shows.  I antiqued some paper, made little cards out of the paper and hand stamped bees on the  cards with the appropriate info inside at christmas shows. They sold.  I think I have about six left.  Will probably buy more this year and do the same.  I went for the primitative look, same with candles. 

[kbfarms]

Forgot to add, get the shrink wrap to go around the cork, that way you don't have to worry about leaks, plus it looks more professional.

[Michael Bush]

>Obviously it would be my assumption that you pour the honey in and let it crystalize in the jar?

I set them on the window sill in the fall and winter and they are cool enough to crystalize quickly and smoothly.  Optimum is 56 F.

[TheMasonicHive]

WOW KB!  Thats great!  I had a similar idea in mind with a tag, but I'm going to put random bee facts pertaining to that 8 oz of honey...such as estimates of how many flowers had to be pollinated in order to produce it and so forth.

I would love if people bought my honey, and learned from it!

[TheMasonicHive]

KB.  How many jars did you start with and how quickly did they sell?

[luvin honey]

TMH--I think the jars are beautiful and really like your idea about educating about bees on the label. I think people are absolutely willing to pay for beauty and information, plus it's another chance to put in a plug for bees. The more people learn about these incredible creatures, the less likely they are to reach for a can of Raid when they see them...

I'm thinking about trying out those jars, too. I don't anticipate that much honey, starting fresh on packages again this year, but even 4 quarts would go quite a way in jars that size.

[kbfarms]

I started with 36.  They were at 4 shows.   These were small town shows with surrounding rural areas in an economically depressed area.  They would have sold faster in shows in larger cities.  The only reason the six did not sell is that I pulled them because I found out I did not have all the state required information for selling honey (should have looked earlier) and I had labled it organic....should have said natural instead.

I don't use chemicals but have come to the conclusion that bees can pickup chemicals while out after looking at my surrounding area on goggle earth.  There are some AG plantings within two miles of my hives,  so I didn't want to be dishonest about the product.

I'm going to redo my tags to ensure all the state required information is present.   The bee facts sounds like a great idea, wonder if I could squeeze one fact on each tag???

[TheMasonicHive]

I'm curious, is there a "history" behind the Muth Jar?  Does anyone have something available I can read about it? 

[buzzbee]

My Muth Jar,not sure of age. label was from Wisconsin


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[HoneyBeeJammed]

I don't know if this will help anyone on this topic or not. But, I sell my 8 oz jars at craft shows for $12 each during the end of year holiday season and I can not keep them on the table.

[edward]

  When I package my honey in expensive containers I like to share the extra cost with my customers 

mvh edward 

[winginit]

History of Muth Jars...cool it's from my neck of the woods. Also, friends of mine are antique local jar collectors, I'll ask them about Muth. I doubt they collect Muth, but they'll know who does if anyone is interested.

Southwest Ohio has a unique place in beekeeping history. The inventor of the modern movable frame beehive, Lorenzo Langstroth, was from Philadelphia, but he moved to Oxford in 1858 after his brother-in-law gave him property there. The home where he lived for 28 years and where he researched and bred Italian honey bees was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, and it is now the home of Miami University's Center for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and University Assessment. This Dec. 25 marks the bicentennial of Langstroth's birth.

Charles Muth of Cincinnati, one of the biggest sellers of honey in the country in the 19th century, was a close friend of Langstroth. Muth had a large apiary consisting of between 26 and 40 Langstroth hives on the roof of his beekeeping supply store on Central Avenue. He sold his honey in squarish glass jars stopped with cork, now called Muth jars.

[Zeevah]

*bump*

Hi, can someone tell me what the size (height/width) of the 8 oz and 1 lb Muth jars are?

Thanks!

[garys520]

I picked up 8 cases from Brushy Mt.  After shipping they cost $1.77 each.  I've been getting $11 for them and they sell fast.  They really look nice with a label that is attached by decorative thread.   They take a little more honey than a standard honey container, even though they're labeled One Pound of Pure Honey. 

[blueskybeesupply]

We redesigned the 4 oz. Muth jars this year and are happy to bring them back to the market after a few years off. You can buy them from most suppliers by the case and from us in pallet quantities.

[L Daxon]

Remember, if you are giving the jars away to clients as thank you gifts, or otherwise using it to promote your business, you can take not only the price of the jars but also (at least part if not all of) the cost of your beekeeping expenses as a tax deduction.

Thanks to some new legislation in Oklahoma this session, beginning July 1 of this year, I will be able for the first time to legally sell my honey without having a separate, licensed honey processing kitchen.  Thus I have always in the past had to give my honey away.

But since I am a realtor I always put my business name on my label which promotes my business and thus let me take my beekeeping activities/equipment as a tax deduction.  I make up separate labels for Christmas gifts, thank you gifts, etc. but most of them say Linda Daxon, Metro First Realty.  I also teach the beginning beekeepers class here in OKC and give talks around town, etc. and at those events I pass out my business card, not just to promote my business but to make sure I satisfy IRS requirements that I am using my beekeeping activities as a business marketing endeavor.  (hope this doesn't lead to the IRS targeting beekeepers.)

[melliferal]

and at those events I pass out my business card, not just to promote my business but to make sure I satisfy IRS requirements that I am using my beekeeping activities as a business marketing endeavor.  (hope this doesn't lead to the IRS targeting beekeepers.)

Well if it does, always remember that they didn't start targeting us until YOU posted this.

[JPinMO]

Wow, those are gorgeous! I'm Pinning a picture of one to keep in mind for my future honey harvest.

[melliferal]

I think I might end up giving Muths a try too; they are incredibly attractive and "premium"-looking.

In Brushy Mtn's latest catalog I noticed some nice-looking clear labels they're now selling; one of them is on a Muth jar and it looks great.  I'd think either that or the aforementioned string-tag would be the ways to go for labeling these jars.  They're far too pretty to cover up with a big white label IMO.

[HomeSteadDreamer]

I think they look wonderful and prefer glass to plastic

[luvin honey]

I used these last year and loved them, as did my customers. People didn't bat an eyelash at $12/one-lb jar.