It’s oh so sweet! Springtime weather in Wisconsin, and hoping that our pollinators made it through the winter in good shape!
Last year was a tough year for many Wisconsin bee managers. Honey production from producers with 5 or more colonies in Wisconsin totaled 2.97 million pounds in 2017 according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service Honey Report. This was an 11 percent decrease from the 3.35 million pounds produced in 2016.
The number of honey producing colonies in the state decreased from 54,000 colonies in 2016 to 53,000 colonies in 2017. This number does not include producers with fewer than 5 colonies or producers who did not harvest honey. Colonies that produced honey in more than one state were counted in each state where they produced honey.
Yield per colony in Wisconsin averaged 56 pounds, down from 62 pounds per colony in 2016. Wisconsin moved to fifteenth place nationally in honey production, down from twelfth place last year.
On December 15, 2017, producer honey stocks in Wisconsin, excluding stocks under government loan programs, were 683 thousand pounds, a 43 percent decrease from 2016. The state’s 2017 honey crop was valued at $8.22 million, down 8 percent from the previous year’s $8.94 million. The average price per pound for all marketing channels in Wisconsin was $2.77, up 10 cents from 2016.