United States honey production fell 14 percent in 2025, totaling 116 million pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which released its annual Honey report on March 13, 2026. The number of honey-producing colonies dropped 7 percent to 2.41 million, and yield per colony averaged 48.0 pounds, also down 7 percent from 2024 — a decline across nearly every measure NASS tracks, even as the price beekeepers got paid for that smaller crop jumped sharply.
Less Honey, Higher Prices
The production drop wasn’t offset by weak demand — quite the opposite. The average U.S. honey price rose 27 percent in 2025, to $3.05 per pound, up from $2.41 in 2024. That combination — meaningfully less honey, sold at a meaningfully higher price — points to a market where demand held steady or grew while supply tightened, rather than a simple oversupply correction. Total production value still came in at roughly $353 million for the year, not far off 2024’s $324 million, because the price increase largely offset the drop in volume.
A few other figures from the same report round out the picture: the average price paid for a queen bee rose to $22 in 2025 (up from $18), a package of bees to $110 (from $89), and a nuc to $130 (from $109) — all consistent with an industry where replacing lost colonies got more expensive at the same time fewer colonies were producing honey.
Production by State: Where the Honey Actually Came From
NASS breaks production down by state, and the swings weren’t uniform. North Dakota remained the largest honey-producing state by a wide margin, though its own production fell noticeably year over year.
| State | Colonies (1,000) | Production (1,000 lbs), 2025 | Change from 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 460 | 30,820 | −15.0% |
| South Dakota | 205 | 8,200 | −38.1% |
| California | 315 | 11,025 | −17.3% |
| Montana | 123 | 10,455 | +3.7% |
| Minnesota | 113 | 5,650 | −17.6% |
| Florida | 113 | 3,616 | −11.6% |
| Texas | 72 | 2,160 | −47.2% |
| United States (total) | 2,412 | 115,716 | −13.9% |
Texas’s near-50% year-over-year drop stands out even against a generally weak national year, while Montana was one of the few states to actually gain ground. NASS attributes state-to-state swings to a combination of weather, forage conditions, and colony health rather than any single national cause.
What the Numbers Mean for Buyers and Producers
For anyone running or starting a honey business, a national production drop combined with a real price increase is a genuinely different market signal than either figure would suggest alone — it points toward tighter domestic supply rather than falling demand, which affects wholesale pricing and sourcing decisions differently than a demand-side slump would. It also fits into the broader picture covered in this site’s look at how the U.S. honey industry works, where domestic production has never come close to meeting U.S. consumption on its own, making imports and price swings like this one a normal part of the market rather than an anomaly.
The colony and yield declines are also worth reading alongside the separate annual colony-loss survey research this site covers elsewhere — production figures and overwinter colony loss rates are measuring different things, but a year with below-average yield per colony is consistent with a year where colony health was also under real pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much honey did the US produce in 2025?
116 million pounds (115.7 million pounds precisely), down 14 percent from 2024, according to USDA NASS’s report released March 13, 2026.
Why did honey prices go up if production went up too?
Production actually went down, not up — prices rose 27% to $3.05 per pound specifically because supply tightened while demand held steady, a classic supply-side price response.
Which state produces the most honey in the US?
North Dakota, by a wide margin, with 30.8 million pounds in 2025 — more than double the next-largest producing state.
Where can I see the full USDA honey report?
It’s published free by USDA NASS and covers every major producing state, plus queen, package, and nuc prices and apiary income and expenditure data.
