After three successive years of below-average rainfall, California beekeepers say they face higher feeding costs and expect a reduced honey crop.
Although no formal statewide honey production figures are expected to be released for a few months, individual beekeepers report that the amount of honey they will extract from bee colonies this year will be down—perhaps sharply.
"California used to be one of the top honey-producing states, but things have shifted to the Midwest in recent years," said Jackie Park-Burris, a queen bee breeder in Palo Cedro. "While California and Oregon are about as dry as anyone can remember, the Midwest states have had more rain than they wanted."
Due to the drought, beekeepers in California and Oregon have reported high input costs for feeding bees, because forage for bees is simply not available.
Beekeeper Troy Bunch of Hughson said he must provide a lot of feed for his bees in the form of syrup and pollen patty supplements, to keep up the health of his hives.
"This drought situation hurts everybody; your bees are just not as healthy," Bunch said. "To produce healthy, strong colonies, you need good honey flows starting at the beginning of the year. We’re all suffering a little bit from this."
Eric Mussen, retired extension apiculturist from the University of California, Davis, said the sources of nectar available to honeybees are agricultural crops and wildflowers. The main crop sources include citrus, alfalfa, safflower, pumpkin and avocado, although cotton is still considered a honey plant by a few beekeepers, he said. Key native plants and weeds include manzanita, sages, eucalyptus, yellow starthistle and others, though Mussen said native plants "have suffered quite a bit" from drought.
"Poor plant growth and development have led to poor seed production and some of these plant populations are dwindling rapidly," he said.
Bill Lewis, a Los Angeles County beekeeper and president of the California State Beekeepers Association, has colonies in the mountains and estimates his honey production this season may be only 20 percent of average.
"Overall, it was pretty grim honey production in California, but I’ve heard some exciting reports out of the Midwest and the Dakotas, where there are reports of bumper crops," Lewis said. "Hopefully, that helps a lot of the beekeepers that come to California for almond pollination, but the drought has really hit us hard."
Ryan Cosyns, who operates a bee business and grows almonds with his family in Madera, said this year he decided to concentrate less on his honey crop and build up his bee colonies.
"We just focused on building our numbers back up rather than making honey this summer. I increased to 500 more hives than I had last year," said Cosyns, who leases bees to a partner in North Dakota.
Cosyns said he usually extracts about 35 pounds per hive in California, whereas in North Dakota, he averages 80 to 85 pounds a hive.
Compared with his fellow beekeepers, Bunch said he is fortunate that most of his honey crop is produced on irrigated alfalfa.
"The drought doesn’t affect you too much if you are irrigated. The majority of my crop is pretty normal at 80 pounds (per hive), but I know a lot of beekeepers who are suffering; they are down at least 50 percent, maybe even more," said Bunch, who estimates that the state’s honey crop will be 20 percent to 50 percent of normal.
Bunch said he and other beekeepers are looking ahead to what might be in store next year.
"I’m hoping that next year is a wet year, because another drought year is going to mean cutting way back on irrigation. I’m really very concerned about our almond growers and alfalfa growers," Bunch said. "If they cut it back again, I think we’re going to experience problems in trying to keep crops alive, or some crops just won’t get planted."
Early this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that the 2013 U.S. honey crop was 149 million pounds, up 5 percent from the previous year, although California production declined 6 percent.
The price of honey increased to a record high during 2013, to a nationwide average of $2.12 per pound, up 6 percent from 2012, USDA reported. Average prices also rose in California, to $2.10 per pound in 2013, up 8 percent from the previous year.
(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)