Honey ISSN: 1949-1492 Released March 13, 2026, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). United States Honey Production Down 14 Percent in 2025 United States honey production in 2025 totaled 116 million pounds, down 14 percent from 2024. There were 2.41 million colonies producing honey in 2025, down 7 percent from 2024. Yield per colony averaged 48.0 pounds, down 7 percent from 2024. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State where the honey was produced. Therefore, at the United States level yield per colony may be understated, but total production would not be impacted. Colonies were not included if honey was not harvested. Producer honey stocks were 34.8 million pounds on December 15, 2025, down 15 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude those held under the commodity loan program. Honey Prices Up 27 Percent in 2025 United States honey prices increased 27 percent during 2025 to $3.05 per pound, compared to $2.41 per pound in 2024. United States and State level prices reflect the portions of honey sold through cooperatives, private, and retail channels. Prices for each color class are derived by weighting the quantities sold for each marketing channel. Prices for the 2024 crop reflect honey sold in 2024 and 2025. Some 2024 crop honey was sold in 2025, which caused some revisions to the 2024 crop prices. Price Paid per Queen was 22 Dollars in 2025 The average prices paid in 2025 for honey bee queens, packages, and nucs were $22, $110, and $130, respectively. Pollination income for 2025 was $225 million, down 1 percent from 2024. Other income from honey bees in 2025 was $48.0 million, down 7 percent from 2024. These estimates, along with expenditure and apiary worker information, can be found on page 4 of this report. Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value - States and United States: 2024 [Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Honey : Yield : : : Average : Value State : producing : per : Production : Stocks : price per : of : colonies 1/ : colony : :December 15 2/ : pound 3/ :production 4/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 pounds ---- 1,000 pounds ---- dollars 1,000 dollars : California ...........: 310 43 13,330 3,466 1.96 26,127 Florida ..............: 124 33 4,092 532 3.14 12,849 Georgia ..............: 64 29 1,856 204 3.46 6,422 Idaho ................: 114 22 2,508 351 2.19 5,493 Iowa .................: 41 67 2,747 577 3.82 10,494 Louisiana ............: 68 50 3,400 1,156 2.53 8,602 Michigan .............: 82 61 5,002 850 3.07 15,356 Minnesota ............: 127 54 6,858 3,360 1.90 13,030 Mississippi ..........: 29 80 2,320 278 3.42 7,934 Montana ..............: 142 71 10,082 2,823 2.21 22,281 : New York .............: 52 53 2,756 965 5.42 14,938 North Carolina .......: 15 40 600 168 6.30 3,780 North Dakota .........: 490 74 36,260 7,977 1.85 67,081 Ohio .................: 22 57 1,254 715 5.44 6,822 Oregon ...............: 84 34 2,856 800 2.58 7,368 Pennsylvania .........: 23 52 1,196 502 5.58 6,674 South Dakota .........: 250 53 13,250 8,745 2.75 36,438 Texas ................: 89 46 4,094 2,252 2.41 9,867 Washington ...........: 72 30 2,160 626 3.37 7,279 Wisconsin ............: 57 44 2,508 1,104 3.74 9,380 : Other States 5/ 6/ ...: 342 45 15,264 3,356 4.03 61,514 : United States 6/ 7/ ..: 2,597 51.7 134,393 40,807 2.41 323,887 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was harvested during the year. It is possible to harvest honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year. 2/ Stocks held by producers. 3/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales. 4/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound. 5/ Includes data for States not published in this table. 6/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production. 7/ United States value of production will not equal summation of States. Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value - States and United States: 2025 [Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Honey : Yield : : : Average : Value State : producing : per : Production : Stocks : price per : of : colonies 1/ : colony : :December 15 2/ : pound 3/ :production 4/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 pounds ---- 1,000 pounds ---- dollars 1,000 dollars : California ...........: 315 35 11,025 2,426 2.57 28,334 Florida ..............: 113 32 3,616 723 3.94 14,247 Georgia ..............: 67 32 2,144 429 3.68 7,890 Idaho ................: 104 29 3,016 754 2.07 6,243 Iowa .................: 34 62 2,108 843 5.43 11,446 Louisiana ............: 62 53 3,286 887 2.47 8,116 Michigan .............: 89 42 3,738 748 3.27 12,223 Minnesota ............: 113 50 5,650 2,656 2.38 13,447 Mississippi ..........: 25 89 2,225 200 2.32 5,162 Montana ..............: 123 85 10,455 3,346 2.18 22,792 : New York .............: 52 56 2,912 1,077 5.14 14,968 North Carolina .......: 16 42 672 161 7.99 5,369 North Dakota .........: 460 67 30,820 5,856 1.89 58,250 Ohio .................: 17 45 765 474 6.45 4,934 Oregon ...............: 87 27 2,349 916 2.09 4,909 Pennsylvania .........: 25 57 1,425 456 4.33 6,170 South Dakota .........: 205 40 8,200 5,658 2.44 20,008 Texas ................: 72 30 2,160 1,080 3.91 8,446 Washington ...........: 66 31 2,046 818 4.36 8,921 Wisconsin ............: 50 30 1,500 1,140 4.52 6,780 : Other States 5/ 6/ ...: 317 49 15,604 4,192 3.75 58,515 : United States 6/ 7/ ..: 2,412 48.0 115,716 34,840 3.05 352,934 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was harvested during the year. It is possible to harvest honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year. 2/ Stocks held by producers. 3/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales. 4/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound. 5/ Includes data for States not published in this table. 6/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production. 7/ United States value of production will not equal summation of States. Honey Price by Color Class - United States: 2024 and 2025 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Co-op and private : Retail : All Color class :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2024 : 2025 : 2024 : 2025 : 2024 : 2025 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : dollars per pound : Water white, extra white, white ...: 1.92 2.12 5.34 5.96 1.98 2.29 : Extra light amber .................: 2.19 2.55 4.72 7.08 2.44 2.92 : Light amber, amber, dark amber ....: 2.50 2.63 6.33 7.25 3.25 3.54 : All other honey, area specialties .: 3.95 4.42 8.53 8.94 5.31 5.91 : All honey .........................: 2.11 2.45 5.90 7.15 2.41 3.05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Income and Expenditures - United States: 2024 and 2025 [Represents income and expenditures on the total number of colonies, regardless of whether honey was harvested] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Item : 2024 : 2025 ----------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 dollars : Income : Pollination income ..............: 225,935 224,726 Other income 1/ .................: 51,778 47,964 : Expenditures : Varroa control and treatment ....: 16,634 22,231 Other colony issues 2/ ..........: 4,178 6,174 Feed 3/ .........................: 45,423 54,931 Foundation ......................: 6,170 5,950 Hives/woodenware ................: 12,684 11,882 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Includes sales of queens, queen cells, beeswax, propolis, etc. 2/ Includes Nosema, tracheal mites, foulbrood, paralysis, Kashmir, cloudy wing, etc. 3/ Includes syrup, sugar water, honey, pollen patties, and other feeds. Queen, Package, and Nuc Prices Paid - United States: 2024 and 2025 [Represents prices paid on the total number of colonies, regardless of whether honey was harvested] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Item : 2024 : 2025 ----------------------------------------------------------------- : dollars : Queen ...........................: 18 22 Package .........................: 89 110 Nuc .............................: 109 130 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Apiary Workers - United States: 2024 and 2025 [Represents number of paid and unpaid workers that worked with colonies, regardless of whether honey was harvested] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Item : 2024 : 2025 ----------------------------------------------------------------- : workers : Apiary workers ..................: 26,000 27,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Data for honey producing operations are collected from a stratified sample of all known operations with at least 5 honey bee colonies that also meet USDA's definition of a farm. To qualify as a farm, an operation must be any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year. NASS Regional Field Offices maintain a list of all known operations and use known sources of operations to update their lists. All sampled operations are mailed a questionnaire and given adequate time to respond by mail or electronic data reporting (EDR). Those that do not respond by mail or EDR are telephoned or possibly enumerated in person. Prices are collected by color class and marketing channel from operations with five or more colonies. Estimation Procedures: Sound statistical methodology is employed to derive the estimates from reported data. All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. Data for missing operations were estimated based on similar operations or historical data. State offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Prices for each color class are derived by weighting the quantities sold for each marketing channel. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Revision Policy: The previous year's estimates are subject to revision when current year's estimates are made. Revisions are the result of late reports or corrected data. Price revisions can be the result of additional sales reported the following year. Estimates will also be reviewed after data from the 5-year Census of Agriculture are available. No revisions will be made after that date. Reliability: Since all operations are not included in the sample, survey estimates are subject to sampling variability. Survey results are also subject to non-sampling errors such as omissions, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality controls in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. To assist in evaluating the reliability of the estimates in this report, the "Root Mean Square Error" is shown for selected items in the following table. The "Root Mean Square Error" is a statistical measure based on past performance and is computed using the differences between first and final estimates. The "Root Mean Square Error" for honey producing colonies over the past 10 years is 0.4 percent. This means that chances are 1 out of 3 that the final estimate will not be above or below the current estimate of 2.41 million colonies by more than 0.4 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 0.8 percent. Reliability of Honey Estimates [Based on data for the previous ten years] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Root mean : 90 percent : Difference between first and latest estimate : square error : confidence : : : : : : : level :------------------------------------------------------------- Item : : : : : : Years : : : : : :------------------------------- : : : Average :Smallest : Largest : Below latest : Above latest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : percent percent --------- 1,000 -------- ----- number ---- : Honey producing colonies .....: 0.4 0.8 7 - 25 6 - : Honey production .............: 0.5 0.9 475 - 1,660 6 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Represents zero. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@usda.gov. Travis Averill, Chief, Livestock Branch................................................ (202) 692-0069 Sherry Bertramsen - Livestock Slaughter............................................. (202) 690-8632 Tiffany Byrne - Dairy Products...................................................... (651) 440-7789 Ryan Cowen - Cattle, Cattle on Feed................................................. (202) 720-3040 Kim DaPra - Milk Production and Milk Cows........................................... (202) 720-3278 Fatema Haque - Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised, Poultry ............................ (202) 720-3244 Derron Martin - Catfish, Trout, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products................. (202) 690-3237 Ralph Mondesir - Hogs and Pigs...................................................... (202) 720-3106 Suzanne Richards - Cost of Pollination, Honey, Honey Bee Colonies, Sheep and Goats.. (202) 720-4448 Shulonda Shaw - Cold Storage, Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses................... (202) 720-3240 Autumn Stone - Layers, Eggs......................................................... (202) 690-3676 Takiyah Walker - Chicken Hatchery, Broiler Hatchery................................. (202) 720-6147 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov. The national specific reports are available via a free e-mail subscription. To set-up this free subscription, visit www.nass.usda.gov and click on "National" in upper right corner above "search" box to create an account and select the reports you would like to receive. 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