Warren in Lancaster, PA
I looked up the density of dry beech and got figures of 39, 40 and 41 pounds per cubic foot when dried. With beech the density is higher for dried wood because the shrinkage is substantial. Your piece has roughly .0975 cu. ft. so you would expect roughly 4 pounds when dry.
I think your blank is dry. The water exits quickly from the end grain and nothing in your blank is far from either end. I think ideally you would dry pieces that were somewhat longer because the end grain is subject to checking from rapid drying and you could lose a few inches at each end. A longer piece would take a bit longer to dry. The traditional drying period for plane blanks is three years.