COLUMBUS, Ohio – “Big bee hives experience big deaths.”

Those are the words of Dr. James Tew, honeybee specialist and former professor of entomology at The Ohio State University, as he addressed a group of beekeepers in Ohio concerning losses in their hives.

“We need to help our bees survive the winter,” Tew said. “Like a lot of beekeepers out there, we’re dealing with winter losses. I cannot control the varroa mites, they’re going to be in the hives.

“In the 1920s and 1930s, ‘keepers doted on their bees in the winter and some would actually bury their bees while others built bee cellars, put the bee boxes on wagons and backed them into the cellar, and take them back outside when the weather turned nice. We don’t want to go back to that. Some of those old beekeepers would have bee rooms in their attic. We’re not going to do that, either.

“We’ve learned that today’s beekeeper needs to start packing them better and helping them get through the winter, both on the bottom of the boxes and on the top. Then there’s the varroa mites. Varroa mites have changed the ways of beekeepers. Varroa mites have made bees expensive and have made winter losses meaningful. Because of the varroa mites I personally now have fewer colonies because they’re so difficult to manage. I also keep fewer colonies because they’re so expensive. The traditional ways of keeping bees as I did in the 1970s simply does not work. What I’ve done the past 50 years hasn’t worked.”

According to Tew, extreme cold conditions and varroa mites have been detrimental to bee colonies across the United States.

“Continuous days of sub-freezing temperatures that we had in January and February were extremely hard on the honeybees, as they require a great deal of honey close to the brood to obtain the energy needed to create heat to keep warm,” he said. “Bees cluster tightly during freezing weather and often starve to death even though they are inches from stored honey because the cluster is too small to reach it.”

The key, Tew added, is to keep the bees healthy and free of varroa mites, especially in the fall. Damage from varroa mites shortens the bees’ life by seven or more days.

Honey production may be elevated in one portion of the country and lower in others, he said. 

In January, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) contacted beekeepers nationwide during the Bee and Honey Production, Disposition and Income Inquiry to gather information on colony numbers, honey production, stocks and sales.

“The survey results provide a statistical benchmark on U.S. honey production and value,” said Bill Meyer, director of the NASS Mountain Regional Field Office. “This helps ‘keepers and other interested parties with data on a state-by-state basis and helps monitor changes in honey production and value.”

Ohio honey production for 2021 totaled 1.02 million pounds, down 15 percent from 2020. Yields from Ohio’s 16,000 honey producing colonies averaged 64 pounds in 2021, down 11 pounds from the previous year.

Ohio honey price averaged $3.70 per pound, up 20 cents per pound from last year. Value of production totaled $3.79 million, down 10 percent from 2020. Honey stocks totaled 389,000 pounds, down 32 percent from 2020.

Those at the Ohio State Beekeepers Association point to other detrimental factors and not just the varroa mites. The group points to the effects of COVID-19 as it continues to add to beekeepers’ woes and is the reason why many bee clubs are not meeting. With the increase in gasoline and diesel, sideliner and commercial beekeepers are spending more money on fuel. The group points to rising costs of both glass and plastic honey jars, as well as wood prices that have risen at least 40 percent.

Indiana has roughly 10,000 honey producing colonies in the state and ranks 32nd in honey production.

Despite its low ranking, Indiana totaled 520,000 pounds of honey, up 5 percent from 2020. Yields from Indiana’s colonies averaged 52 pounds in 2021, down 5 percent from the previous year. Indiana honey price averaged $3.89 per pound, down just two cents from last year. Value of production totaled $2.02 million, up 5 percent from 2020. Honey stocks totaled 177,000 pounds, up 19 percent from 2020.

The Michigan Beekeepers’ Association held its 2022 Spring Conference on March 12. The group has served Michigan beekeepers the past 157 years and supports more than 30 local beekeeping clubs in the state.

Beekeepers at this gathering spoke about the shortage of stores that will sell their honey, the low production from many producers this past year, and others having run out of stock to sell. Much talk was given to the rise in woodenware and the shortage of lumber, as well as the broken supply chain which has prevented some from making new hive boxes. Added to all this, they said, is the worry about the rise in the cost of glass honey jars.

Despite all this, Michigan beekeepers have seen a 15 percent spike in honey production.  Honey production in the Wolverine State for 2021 totaled 5.15 million pounds, up 15 percent from 2020. This estimate included honey from producers with five or more colonies.

Nationally, Michigan ranked eighth in honey production in 2021. Yields from Michigan’s 101,000 honey producing colonies averaged 51 pounds in 2021, up nine percent from the previous year.

The Michigan honey price averaged $2.97 per pound, up two cents per pound from last year. Value of production totaled $15.3 million, up 16 percent from 2020. Honey stocks in the state were 1.96 million pounds, up 41 percent from 2020.

In Kentucky, there are roughly 7,000 honey producing colonies. Honey production in Kentucky in 2021 totaled 259,000 pounds, up 12 percent from 2020. All told, honey production brings in $1.19 million to the state’s economy.

According to those at the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association, beekeepers in the Bluegrass State have had to contend with the seventh-snowiest year on record in some parts of the state. The state has seen 17 inches of snow since the start of this year.

There are several beekeeping chapters throughout the state and disruptions to bee education events due to COVID-19 are still happening, although many associations have elected to offer education online rather than have those events in person. Still, several in-person educational events are scheduled for later this spring.

Illinois honey production for 2021 totaled 460 thousand pounds, down 11.5 percent from 2020. Yields from Illinois’ 10,000 producing colonies averaged 46 pounds in 2021, down 12 percent from 52 pounds the previous year. Illinois honey price averaged $5.83 per pound, up 18 cents per pound from last year. Value of production totaled $2.68 million, down 8.5 percent from 2020. Honey stocks totaled 115,000 pounds, down from 156,000 pounds the year before.

The Illinois Beekeepers Association reports no shortage of beekeeping classes across the state, despite the decrease in honey production across the state from the previous year. Demand for honey, the association said, “is good and demand exceeded supply at the retail level and the demand was fairly good at the wholesale level.”

United State honey production in 2021 totaled 126 million pounds, down 14 percent from 2020. There were 2.70 million colonies producing honey in 2021, down slightly from 2020. Yield per colony averaged 49.9 pounds, down 14 percent from the 54.5 pounds in 2020.

Bee experts say the honey business remains steady. United States honey prices increased 21 percent during 2021 to $2.54 per pound, compared to $2.10 per pound in 2020.

The top honey production state is North Dakota at 28.3 million pounds. South Dakota comes in second at 12.3 million pounds while California is third at 9.57 million pounds.