After eight straight years of increases, the value of honey produced in Canada took a sharp dive in 2016 – even though more honey was produced than in any year since 2006.
Statistics Canada says the country’s beekeepers produced nearly 92.2 million pounds of honey this year, worth a total of $157.8 million.
In 2015, those figures stood at just over 92 million pounds and $210.5 million in value.
Canada had a total of 9,859 beekeepers this year – the most since 1999, although far fewer than were around in the early 1980s (when the total topped 20,000), to say nothing of the mid-1940s (when it topped 40,000).
Those 9,859 beekeepers farmed a total of 750,155 colonies, which represents the highest total on record.
According to Statistics Canada, the average colony produced 123 pounds of honey this year, which was a slight decrease from 2015.
Nearly 30 per cent of all beekeepers in Canada live in Ontario.
