WASHINGTON — US honey production totaled 125,331,000 lbs in 2022, down 1.1% from 126,744,000 lbs in 2021 and the lowest in records back to 1987 when production was 235,436,000 lbs, the US Department of Agriculture said in its annual Honey report released March 17.

Honey was harvested from 2,667,000 colonies in 2022, down 1.1% from 2,697,000 colonies in 2021. Average yield per colony was 47 lbs, unchanged from the prior year. 

Producer stocks of honey on Dec. 15, 2019, totaled 23,309,000 lbs, down 0.9% from 23,532 lbs a year earlier.

The price of honey sold through private, cooperative and retail channels averaged a record high $2.96 per lb in 2022, up 12% from $2.65 per lb in 2021.

The total value of honey production in 2022 was estimated at $370,980,000, up 10% from $335,872,000 in 2021.