Last Updated September 15, 2026
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. Multiple outlets covering the release, including Food Business News, note this is the lowest annual U.S. total since NASS began compiling honey statistics in 1939.
Key Takeaways
- U.S. honey production totaled 116 million pounds in 2025, down 14% from 2024 and, by multiple press accounts of the NASS release, the lowest annual figure since USDA record-keeping began in 1939.
- Honey-producing colonies fell 7% to 2.41 million and yield per colony fell 7% to 48.0 pounds — production dropped on both fronts at once, not just one.
- The average price beekeepers received rose 27% to $3.05 per pound, pushing total crop value to $352.9 million even with a smaller harvest.
- North Dakota remained the top-producing state for the 23rd straight year, but Texas had the steepest year-over-year decline of any major producing state, down 47.2%.
- The same report shows Varroa mite control and treatment spending jumped 34% year over year ($16.6 million to $22.2 million) — a cost signal that lines up with the severe 2024–2025 colony losses reported separately by USDA’s winter loss survey.
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. NASS’s companion income-and-expenditure figures point the same direction: beekeepers spent $22.2 million nationally on Varroa mite control and treatment in 2025, up from $16.6 million in 2024 — a 34% jump — while pollination income held nearly flat at $224.7 million, down just 1% from 2024.
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, extending its streak to 23 consecutive years at the top, 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 — though the timing lines up with a historically severe national die-off. A separate USDA-linked survey found more than 1.6 million U.S. colonies were lost between June 2024 and March 2025, with over 60% of that loss concentrated in a single stretch from June 2024 to January 2025, tied to pesticide-resistant Varroa mites — the kind of colony-health shock that shows up directly in a report like this one as fewer producing colonies and lower yield per colony, even before it shows up anywhere else.
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, since production figures and overwinter colony loss rates measure different things but tell a connected story this year: a year with below-average yield per colony and a jump in Varroa treatment spending is consistent with a year where colony health was under genuinely unusual pressure, not just normal year-to-year variation.
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 — reportedly the lowest annual total since USDA began tracking honey production in 1939.
Why did honey prices go up if production went down?
Prices rose 27% to $3.05 per pound specifically because supply tightened while demand held steady, a classic supply-side price response to a smaller harvest.
Which state produces the most honey in the US?
North Dakota, by a wide margin, with 30.8 million pounds in 2025 — its 23rd consecutive year as the top-producing state, and more than double the next-largest state.
Is the production drop related to colony losses?
It appears connected. A separate USDA-linked survey found over 1.6 million U.S. colonies were lost between June 2024 and March 2025, driven largely by pesticide-resistant Varroa mites — and the same NASS report shows a 34% jump in national Varroa treatment spending, consistent with a year of unusually heavy colony pressure.
Where can I see the full USDA honey report?
It’s published free by USDA NASS as a PDF and covers every major producing state, plus queen, package, and nuc prices, and apiary income and expenditure data.
How much did beekeepers earn from pollination contracts in 2025?
$224.7 million nationally, down just 1% from 2024 — a relatively stable figure compared to the much larger swings in honey production and price that year.
