Statistical overview of the Canadian honey and bee industry, 2024

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Overview

Beekeeping is an important agricultural industry in Canada, producing honey and other hive products, and delivering valuable pollination services to farmers of orchard fruits, berries, vegetables, forage crops, and hybrid canola seeds. In 2021, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) estimated that the total annual economic contribution of honey bee pollination through direct additional harvest value was about $3.18 billion. When the estimated contribution of honey bee pollination to the production of hybrid canola seed is added, the total estimated contribution rises to $7 billion per year.

In the 2024 season, the industry continued to respond to challenges maintaining and growing honey bee colony hive numbers in response to the 2022 and 2023 seasons' higher than usual overwinter colony losses. (For more details on provincial and national overwinter loss rates please refer to the Canadian Association of Provincial Apiculturists reports).

Despite these significant challenges the national total number of hives increased in 2024 to 829,120, which is 2.4% more than the previous year, and 4.5% higher than the average of the previous 4 years. Honey production in Canada in 2024, by volume, decreased by 18.3% from a year earlier to 78.2 million pounds. With lower volumes and modestly lower prices for honey, the 2024 total national value of the harvest declined by 24.5% over the previous year to $214 million from $283 million. The total value of the 2024 harvest is 15% lower than the average of the previous 4 years ($252 million).

While beekeepers operate in all provinces, the majority (63%) of Canadian honey bee colonies were kept in the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) where long summer days and large areas of forage crops for bees make it possible for beekeepers in those provinces to produce honey well in surplus to provincial demand. In contrast, the majority (60%) of beekeepers (anyone with one or more honey bee colonies) operate in Ontario and British Columbia, managing 24% of the national total of colonies. The 3 Prairie Provinces produced 79% of the total national honey production in 2024, totaling 61,791 thousand pounds (out of a total national production of 78,176 thousand pounds).

This regional concentration of honey production is echoed in the regional balance of honey exports. The Prairie Provinces were responsible for 77% of 2024 export shipments of honey by value, with the remainder (23%) of Canadian honey exports from Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. In 2024, the United States received 63% (3,762 metric tonnes) of total annual honey exports with Japan receiving 33% (1,981 metric tonnes).

Canadian beekeepers import queen bees and package bees (a few pounds of worker bees, often with a mated queen) each spring to supplement domestic supplies of bees. These imported bees are used to rapidly replace over-winter queen and hive losses in the spring and to grow beekeeping operations over the season. Queens can be imported from certain countries and regions that have been deemed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as safe and do not pose any unacceptable risks to Canada. Beekeepers imported 300,000 queens in 2024; most came from California and Hawaii (84.1%), with contributions from Italy (6.0%), Australia (4.7%), Chile (4.1%) and New Zealand (1.0%). In 2024, package bees were imported from a short list of approved sources: Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Chile. Beekeepers imported a total of 46,985 kg of package bees, which is 32.4% fewer than the previous year and 27% higher than the average quantity of packages received in each of the previous 4 years, including some years where imports were severely restricted due to supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19. New Zealand exported 52% (24,815 kg) of the total number of packages, 22.7% (10,643 kg) from Italy, 16.4% (7,702 kg) from Australia, and 8.1% (3,825 kg) from Chile.

1. Production

1.1 Number of beekeepers Table note 1 by province

1.2. Number of coloniesTable note 1 by province

1.3. Number of beekeepers and number of colonies by province

Source: Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0353-01 Production and value of honey

1.4. Total honey productionTable note 1 by province – thousands of pounds

1.5. Production valueTable note 1 of honey by province – thousands of Canadian dollars

2. Trade

2.1. Trade balance

2.1.1. Canada's honey trade balance – thousands of Canadian dollars

2.2. Exports

2.2.1. Canada's honey exports by provinceTable note 1 — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.2.2. Canada's honey exports by provinceTable note 1 — by volume (metric tonnes)

2.2.3. Canada's top honey export destinations — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.2.4. Canada's top honey export destinations — by volume (metric tonnes)

2.3. Imports

2.3.1. Canada's honey imports by province — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.3.2. Canada's honey imports by province — by volume (metric tons)

2.3.3. Canada's top sources of honey imports — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.3.4. Canada's top sources of honey imports — by volume (metric tons)

2.3.5. Canada's sources of package honey bee Table note 1 imports — by value (Canadian dollars)

2.3.6. Canada's sources of package honey beeTable note 1 imports — by volume (kilograms)

2.3.7. Canada's sources of queen bee imports — by value (Canadian dollars)

2.3.8. Canada's sources of queen bee imports — by quantity (number)

3. Consumption

3.1. Honey availableTable note 1 for consumption in Canada – kilograms per person

4. World data

4.1 World trade data

4.1.1. Top exporters of honey worldwide — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

4.1.2. Top exporters of honey worldwide — by volume (metric tons)

4.1.3. Top importers of honey worldwide — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

4.1.4. Top importers of honey worldwide — by volume (metric tons)

4.2 World production

4.2.1. Top producers of honey worldwideTable note 1 — by volume (metric tons)

5. Key resources

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division
• Global Trade Tracker
• Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0353-01 Production and value of honey
• Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0054-01 Food available in Canada
• Statistics Canada. CATSNET

Import and export data is based on the following Harmonized System Codes (H.S. Codes):

• Honey for import: 0409000010; 0409000021; 0409000022; 0409000023; 0409000024; 0409000025; 0409000026; 0409000029; 0409000090
• Honey for export: 04090000
• Honey Bees for import: 0106410010; 0106410011; 0106410012; 0106900011; 0106900012
• Queen Bees for imports: 0106410020