According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual honey report, honey production in 2015 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 157 million pounds, down 12% from 2014.
There were 2.66 million colonies from which honey was harvested in 2015, down 3% from 2014. The yield of honey harvested per colony averaged 58.9 pounds, which is down 10% from the 65.1 pounds in 2014. In addition, the report shows that U.S. honey prices decreased during 2015 to 209.0 cents per pound, down 4% from a record high of 217.3 cents per pound in 2014.
According to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, honey bees have been under serious pressure from a mystery problem: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is syndrome defined as a dead colony with no adult bees or dead bee bodies but with a live queen and usually honey and immature bees still present. In addition, honey bees and beekeepers have had to deal with a host of new pathogens from deformed wing virus to nosema fungi, new parasites such as Varroa mites, pests like small hive beetles, nutrition problems from lack of diversity or availability in pollen and nectar sources, and possible sublethal effects of pesticides. These problems, many of which honey bees might be able to survive if each were the only one, are often hitting in a wide variety of combinations, and weakening and killing honey bee colonies.
A huge issue for the industry has been the high rate of hive deaths, put at 42.1% in the last report issued by the USDA ARS. That report, separate from the Honey report, said, “beekeepers are not losing colonies only in the winter but also throughout the summer, sometimes at significant levels.”
