Florida: Honey production in 2004 was 20,090,000 pounds, up 35 percent from 2003. Florida ranked third in production behind North Dakota, and South Dakota. There were 205,000 colonies in Florida in 2004 with an average honey yield of 98 pounds per colony, 27 pounds more than in 2003.  Producers received an average of $1.00 per pound for the honey, down 32 cents per pound from the previous year. The value of Florida honey production in 2004 was $20.1 million, up from the 2003 value of $19.7 million.

Florida: Number of Colonies, Honey Production, Value, and Stocks, 1995-2004
Year	Colonies of bees 1/	Honey
		Yield per colony	Production	Price per pound	Value	Stocks Dec 15 2/
	1,000 colonies	Pounds	1,000 pounds	Cents	1,000 dollars	1,000 pounds
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	132	19,681	1,491
2004	205	98	20,090	100	20,090	2,009
1/ Operations with 5 or more colonies. 2/ Stocks in producers' hands.

UNITED STATES: Honey production in 2004 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 184 million pounds, up 1 percent from 2003. There were 2.56 million colonies producing honey in 2004, down 2 percent from 2003. Yield per colony averaged 71.8 pounds, up 3 percent from the 69.9 pounds in 2003. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State where the honey was produced, therefore yields per colony may be understated. Colonies were not included if honey was not harvested. Producer honey stocks were 61.2 million pounds on December 15, 2004, up 50 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude stocks held under the commodity loan program.

  Honey prices decreased during 2004 to $1.08, down 22 percent from $1.39 cents in 2003. 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 2004 were lower than the previous year for all color classes except the All Other Honey, Area Specialties class. Honey prices for 2003 crop honey reflect honey sold in 2003 and 2004.

United States: Number of Colonies, Honey Production, Value and Stocks, 1995-2004
Year	Colonies of bees 1/	Honey
		Yield per colony	Produc- tion	Price per pound 2/	Value	Stocks Dec 15 3/
	1,000 colonies	Pounds	1,000 pounds	Cents	1,000 dollars	1,000 pounds
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	2,574	66.7	171,718	132 .7	228,338	39,393
2003 4/	2,599	70.0	181,727	138 .7	253,106	40,785
2004 5/	2,556	71.8	183,582	108 .5	201,790	61,222
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, 2003 and 2004
Color class	Co-op and Private		Retail		All
	2003	2004	2003	2004	2003	2004
	Cents per pound
Water white, extra white, and white	141 .1	109 .5	185 .8	172 .8	143 .5	121 .1
Extra light amber	132 .6	98 .5	180 .8	174 .9	136 .5	104 .3
Light amber, amber, and  dark  amber	124 .9	84 .6	192 .6	190 .5	131 .8	100 .6
All other honey, area specialties	111 .2	109 .4	246 .6	279 .5	133 .5	164 .7
All honey	134 .7	101 .5	188 .5	188 .7	138 .7	108 .5

Honey: Number of Colonies, Production, Stocks, and Value, 2003-2004 1/
State	Number of colonies		Yield per colony		Production		Stocks Dec 15 2/		Average price per pound		Value of production
	2003	2004	2003	2004	2003	2004	2003	2004	2003	2004	2003	2004
	1,000 colonies		Pounds		1,000 pounds				Cents		1,000 dollars
Alabama	13	12	82	87	1,066	1,044	43	282	124	140	1,322	1,462
Arizona	35	32	72	55	2,520	1,760	983	774	134	115	3,377	2,024
Arkansas	40	40	75	57	3,000	2,280	810	388	126	90	3,780	2,052
California	480	390	67	45	32,160	17,550	6,432	5,792	139	101	44,702	17,726
Colorado	24	23	86	80	2,064	1,840	722	791	140	148	2,890	2,723
Florida	210	205	71	98	14,910	20,090	1,491	2,009	132	100	19,681	20,090
Georgia	52	63	65	49	3,380	3,087	270	648	128	118	4,326	3,643
Hawaii	7	8	114	96	798	768	43	77	145	141	1,157	1,083
Idaho	100	100	46	63	4,600	6,300	1,380	2,520	133	101	6,118	6,363
Illinois	7	7	60	55	420	385	252	193	183	193	769	743
Indiana	5	7	56	59	280	413	78	145	166	158	465	653
Iowa	32	35	59	67	1,888	2,345	868	1,337	142	128	2,681	3,002
Kansas	16	14	57	80	912	1,120	447	683	141	123	1,286	1,378
Louisiana	34	35	90	98	3,060	3,430	275	240	124	79	3,794	2,710
Maine	8	7	33	31	264	217	145	37	141	127	372	276
Michigan	65	65	74	67	4,810	4,355	1,732	2,439	141	117	6,782	5,095
Minnesota	120	135	83	75	9,960	10,125	1,892	1,924	144	104	14,342	10,530
Mississippi	21	18	69	65	1,449	1,170	246	421	129	80	1,869	936
Missouri	17	16	53	41	901	656	189	151	141	137	1,270	899
Montana	145	140	66	77	9,570	10,780	1,914	3,773	144	106	13,781	11,427
Nebraska	45	51	74	89	3,330	4,539	1,299	2,043	138	107	4,595	4,857
Nevada	6	14	64	55	384	770	46	316	204	330	783	2,541
New Jersey	10	12	19	27	190	324	101	45	160	138	304	447
New Mexico	6	8	41	44	246	352	108	127	120	122	295	429
New York	67	64	72	67	4,824	4,288	1,640	1,887	136	133	6,561	5,703
North Carolina	10	9	44	40	440	360	79	72	192	218	845	785
North Dakota	340	390	87	78	29,580	30,420	6,803	9,126	136	105	40,229	31,941
Ohio	15	16	50	58	750	928	278	353	140	150	1,050	1,392
Oregon	42	42	51	54	2,142	2,268	964	1,111	127	124	2,720	2,812
Pennsylvania	27	30	50	54	1,350	1,620	419	810	144	138	1,944	2,236
South Dakota	215	215	70	105	15,050	22,575	2,709	13,545	143	106	21,522	23,930
Tennessee	6	6	40	54	240	324	46	91	152	172	365	557
Texas	140	116	67	76	9,380	8,816	1,126	1,411	140	96	13,132	8,463
Utah	25	23	57	70	1,425	1,610	157	531	128	104	1,824	1,674
Vermont	7	6	83	68	581	408	163	192	196	145	1,139	592
Virginia	6	7	37	38	222	266	69	69	168	213	373	567
Washington	58	56	56	63	3,248	3,528	942	1,376	146	103	4,742	3,634
West Virginia	8	9	47	55	376	495	194	183	189	142	711	703
Wisconsin	74	68	77	86	5,698	5,848	2,678	2,632	147	133	8,376	7,778
Wyoming	39	39	81	75	3,159	2,925	474	380	141	109	4,454	3,188
Other States 3/	22	23	251	52	1,100	1,203	278	298	1,022	228	2,378	2,746
United States 4/	2,599	2,556	70.0	71.8	181,727	183,582	40,785	61,222	138.7	108.5	253,106	201,790
1/ 2003 data revised. 2/ Does not include stocks under loan. 3/ CT, DE, KY, MD, NH, OK, RI, and SC not published separately to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 4/ U.S. price weighted by survey expanded sales.