Return to the Table of Contents for Publications ------------------------------------------------------------------------ HONEY March 2, 2004 Florida Agricultural Statistics Service | 1222 Woodward Street | Orlando, Florida 32803 | 407 / 648-6013 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FLORIDA: Honey production in 2003 was 14,910,000 pounds, down 27 percent from 2002. Florida ranked third in production behind California, and North Dakota. There were 210,000 colonies in Florida in 2003 with an average honey yield of 71 pounds per colony, 22 pounds less than in 2002. Producers received an average of 135 cents per pound for the honey, up 21 cents per pound from the previous year. The value of Florida honey production in 2003 was $20.1 million, down from the 2002 value of $23.3 million. Florida: Number of Colonies, Honey Production, Value, and Stocks, 1994-2003 Honey Colonies Year of Yield Produc- Price Stocks bees 1/ per tion per Value Dec 15 2/ colony pound 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 colonies Pounds pounds Cents dollars pounds 1994 230 84 19,320 47 9,080 2,898 1995 230 86 19,780 64 12,659 1,780 1996 240 105 25,200 86 21,672 2,268 1997 240 67 16,080 73 11,738 2,734 1998 230 98 22,540 64 14,426 4,508 1999 228 102 23,256 53 12,326 4,186 2000 232 105 24,360 54 13,154 2,923 2001 220 100 22,000 64 14,080 3,432 2002 220 93 20,460 114 23,324 2,026 2003 210 71 14,910 135 20,129 1,491 1/ Operations with 5 or more colonies. 2/ Stocks in producers' hands. UNITED STATES: Honey production in 2003 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 181 million pounds, up 5 percent from 2002. There were 2.59 million colonies producing honey in 2003, up 1 percent from 2002. Yield per colony averaged 69.9 pounds, up 5 percent from the 66.7 pounds in 2002. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State and yields per colony may therefore be understated. Colonies were not included if honey was not harvested. Producer honey stocks were 40.7 million pounds on December 15, 2003, up 3 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude stocks held under the commodity loan program. Honey prices increased to a record high during 2003 to 140.4 cents, up 6 percent from 132.7 cents in 2002. Prices are based on retail sales by producers and sales to private processors and cooperatives. State level honey prices reflect the portions of honey sold through retail, co-op and private channels. U.S. honey prices for each color class are derived by weighing quantities sold for each marketing channel at the U.S. level. Honey prices for 2003 were higher than the previous year for all color classes. Some 2002 crop honey was sold at the higher prices in 2003, which caused some revisions to the 2002 crop prices. United States: Number of Colonies, Honey Production, Value and Stocks, 1994-2003 Honey Year Colonies Yield Produc- Price per Stocks of bees 1/ Value per colony tion pound 2/ Dec 15 3/ 1,000 colonies Pounds 1,000 pounds Cents 1,000 dollars 1,000 pounds 1994 2,783 78.4 218,187 52.8 115,203 59,877 1995 2,655 79.5 211,073 68.5 144,585 42,313 1996 2,581 77.3 199,511 88.8 177,166 47,206 1997 2,631 74.7 196,536 75.2 147,795 70,696 1998 2,633 83.7 220,316 65.5 147,254 80,808 1999 2,688 76.4 205,250 60.1 126,075 79,375 2000 2,620 84.1 220,339 59.7 132,742 85,328 2001 2,506 74.0 185,461 70.4 132,225 64,556 2002 4/ 2,574 66.7 171,718 132.7 228,338 39,393 2003 5/ 2,590 69.9 181,096 140.4 255,791 40,735 1/ Operations with 5 or more colonies. 2/ Weighted by reported sales. 3/ Stocks in producers' hands. 4/ Revised. 5/ Preliminary. United States: Honey Prices by Color Class and Buyer, 2002 and 2003 Co-op and Retail All Color class Private 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 Cents per pound 139 143 153 187 140 146 Water white, extra white, and white .6 .8 .8 .0 .2 .0 127 135 142 177 128 138 Extra light amber .2 .1 .0 .1 .3 .1 119 128 154 185 122 133 Light amber, amber, and dark amber .0 .6 .3 .4 .8 .9 109 116 194 251 121 130 All other honey, area specialties .8 .3 .9 .3 .9 .3 131 137 152 184 132 140 All honey .3 .1 .2 .9 .7 .4 Honey: Number of Colonies, Production, Stocks, and Value, 2002-2003 1/ Number of Yield per Stocks Average Value of Production price State colonies colony Dec 15 2/ per pound production 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 1,000 colonies Pounds 1,000 pounds Cents 1,000 dollars Alabama 12 13 86 82 1,032 1,066 103 43 118 126 1,218 1,343 Arizona 38 40 63 72 2,394 2,880 1,197 1,123 108 138 2,586 3,974 Arkansas 45 40 88 75 3,960 3,000 871 810 126 127 4,990 3,810 California 470 480 50 67 23,500 32,160 3,525 6,432 132 142 31,020 45,667 Colorado 24 24 60 86 1,440 2,064 576 722 129 138 1,858 2,848 Florida 220 210 93 71 20,460 14,910 2,026 1,491 114 135 23,324 20,129 Georgia 50 52 52 65 2,600 3,380 52 270 113 128 2,938 4,326 Hawaii 7 7 136 113 952 791 29 43 111 143 1,057 1,131 Idaho 100 100 57 46 5,700 4,600 1,653 1,380 137 135 7,809 6,210 Illinois 9 7 80 60 720 420 130 252 147 173 1,058 727 Indiana 8 5 62 56 496 280 233 78 119 159 590 445 Iowa 33 32 70 59 2,310 1,888 901 868 143 145 3,303 2,738 Kansas 17 16 52 57 884 912 407 447 150 158 1,326 1,441 Kentucky 5 5 54 48 270 240 78 14 163 164 440 394 Louisiana 35 34 124 90 4,340 3,060 347 275 116 124 5,034 3,794 Maine 11 8 41 33 451 264 266 145 121 140 546 370 Maryland 3 2 46 42 138 84 21 21 196 191 270 160 Michigan 72 65 77 74 5,544 4,810 1,885 1,732 140 147 7,762 7,071 Minnesota 117 120 73 83 8,541 9,960 1,110 1,892 147 146 12,555 14,542 Mississippi 18 21 78 69 1,404 1,449 281 246 123 128 1,727 1,855 Missouri 18 17 50 53 900 901 189 189 142 141 1,278 1,270 Montana 134 145 63 66 8,442 9,570 1,097 1,914 138 148 11,650 14,164 Nebraska 43 45 75 74 3,225 3,330 1,161 1,299 149 143 4,805 4,762 Nevada 9 6 62 64 558 384 61 46 267 241 1,490 925 New Jersey 11 10 40 19 440 190 92 101 100 157 440 298 New Mexico 11 6 44 41 484 246 252 108 110 116 532 285 New York 60 67 98 72 5,880 4,824 2,470 1,640 125 140 7,350 6,754 North Carolina 16 10 42 44 672 440 74 79 141 190 948 836 North Dakota 320 340 75 87 24,000 29,580 8,160 6,803 146 136 35,040 40,229 Ohio 18 15 70 50 1,260 750 504 278 144 143 1,814 1,073 Oklahoma 3 3 53 47 159 141 51 69 163 183 259 258 Oregon 43 42 49 51 2,107 2,142 885 964 135 126 2,844 2,699 Pennsylvania 29 27 57 50 1,653 1,350 827 419 134 132 2,215 1,782 South Carolina 5 6 94 70 470 420 14 13 125 195 588 819 South Dakota 225 200 51 70 11,475 14,000 2,410 2,520 142 146 16,295 20,440 Tennessee 8 7 61 40 488 280 137 53 140 153 683 428 Texas 114 140 67 67 7,638 9,380 985 1,126 114 142 8,707 13,320 Utah 22 23 59 57 1,298 1,311 208 144 130 130 1,687 1,704 Vermont 7 7 89 83 623 581 274 163 120 192 748 1,116 Virginia 8 6 38 37 304 222 79 69 190 169 578 375 Washington 50 58 51 56 2,550 3,248 561 942 127 152 3,239 4,937 West Virginia 9 8 51 47 459 376 151 194 132 201 606 756 Wisconsin 70 74 95 77 6,650 5,698 2,461 2,678 134 144 8,911 8,205 Wyoming 38 39 63 81 2,394 3,159 383 474 133 140 3,184 4,423 Other States 3/ 9 8 50 44 453 355 216 166 229 270 1,036 958 United States 4/ 2,574 2,590 66.7 69.9 171,718 181,096 39,393 40,735 132.7 140.4 228,338 255,791 1/ 2002 data revised. 2/ Does not include stocks under loan. 3/ CT, DE, MA, NH, and RI not published separately to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 4/ U.S. price weighted by survey expanded sales. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Return to the Table of Contents for Publications