EAST LANSING, Mich. – Honey production was up 15 percent in Michigan last year but down 16 percent in Indiana.

The difference in yields from both states is typical for an industry largely dependent on weather conditions for production.

Phillip Janik Jr. said the bees in the 200 colonies he placed throughout LaPorte County produced a lot of honey in 2023 despite last year being a down year for production in Indiana.

He said early spring rains were enough in his area outside Michigan City to produce flowers and trees full of nectar. He said it also didn’t rain when it was warm enough for the bees to want to go out and harvest the nectar used for making honey in their hives.

Janik, who also refers to himself as “The Hoosier Bee Man,” explained honeybees are not willing to venture out and collect nectar in below 50-degree temperatures or when it’s raining.

“It’s a timing thing. It really, truly is. It’s all in the timing,” he said.

According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS), 3.85 million pounds of honey were produced in Michigan last year from producers with five or more bee colonies.

The increase in production happened despite the number of bee colonies in the state falling from about 82,000 to 70,000 over the previous year, according to NASS.

Janik said that happens when colonies make additional honey if returning bees were able to draw from flowers and trees containing extra nectar during pollination.

In comparison, Indiana produced about 477,000 pounds of honey last year from its 9,000 colonies, NASS stated. The number of colonies was about equal to the previous year but the amount of honey from each colony on average dropped from 63 to 53 pounds.

In this case, Janik said the weather in some parts of the state could have been unfavorable for maximum nectar production and bees wanting to go out to gather it. 

“If Mother Nature is putting it out there but it’s too cold and raining, the bees will miss it. If you miss it. You miss it. You really do,” he said.

Production can also be impacted by Varroa mites finding their way inside hives and starting to kill bees.

According to Michigan State University, the parasite is “one of the greatest threats to honeybee health, honey production and pollination services.”

Varroa mites attach themselves to honeybees whose health gradually declines from any transmission of viruses or disease.

Without proper management of the predator, which can only reproduce in a honeybee colony, the colonies – from spread of disease – typically collapse from the infestation in two to three years.

Meghan Milbrath, assistant professor in the department of entomology at the East Lansing campus, said the health of honeybee colonies are also susceptible to other pathogens and contact with pesticides.

“If the colony is affected by other things, even if the weather is favorable, they won’t be able to bring in a good crop,” she said.

Milbrath also pointed out production in Michigan was up last year but still well below the amounts from 2021, 2020 and 2019, which ranged from 4.4 million pounds to 5.1 million pounds.

She also said weather is a major factor in honey production.

According to NASS, the drop from Indiana is from 567,000 thousand pounds of honey collected the previous year, but more in line with the 520,000 pounds gathered in 2021 and the 495,000 pounds produced in 2020.

Michigan ranked No. 8 for U.S. honey production last year.

North Dakota was the leading honey producer at 38 million pounds, while South Dakota was second at 18 million pounds. California was third at 13 million pounds.

According to NASS, the average price for a pound of honey nationwide was $2.52 last year, compared to $3.01 in 2022.

The average per pound cost of honey in Indiana for 2023 was $4.34 or .40 cents less than the previous year, while the price of honey in Michigan was $2.84 per pound, a .20 cent drop from 2022.

Janik said he believes the honey-making season will start a few weeks early this year because of flowers and trees blooming sooner from the mild winter.

He also predicted there will be a lot of nectar in the plants from good amounts of late winter and early spring precipitation.

Again, Janik pointed out having a bumper crop in honey supers depends on what the weather is doing when bees are ready to go out and return with nectar. A honey super is part of a hive.

“If you have good weather and the crops are really pushing out extra nectar you can fill up honey supers very quickly, very quickly,” he said.