U.S. honey production chart
 

 

WASHINGTON — U.S. honey production from operations with five or more colonies totaled 161,882,000 lbs in 2016, up 3% from 156,544,000 lbs a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its annual Honey report March 22.

Honey was harvested from 2,775,000 colonies (operations with five or more colonies) in 2016, up 4% from 2,660,000 colonies in 2015 and the highest colony count since 1994, the U.S.D.A. said. Honey yield per harvested colony averaged 58.3 lbs, down 1% from 58.9 lbs in 2015.

Dec. 15, 2016, producer honey stocks were 41,253,000 lbs, down 2% from 42,203,000 lbs a year earlier.

Honey prices averaged 207.5c per lb in 2016, down slightly from 208.3c per lb in 2015 and the lowest since 2012. Prices included honey sold through private and retail channels and cooperatives.

The U.S.D.A. said production from operations with less than five colonies totaled 766,000 lbs, harvested from 24,000 colonies with an average yield of 31.9 lbs per colony in 2016, compared with 720,000 lbs, 23,000 colonies and 31.3 lbs per colony in 2015, the first year results from smaller operations were reported.