Statistical overview of the Canadian honey and bee industry, 2025

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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, 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.

The 2025 season saw the industry continue a long-term trend of growth while continuing to respond to challenges including sustained historically high levels of overwinter honey bee colony loss. For more details on provincial and national overwinter loss rates please refer to the Canadian Association of Provincial Apiculturists (CAPA) annual reports.

In 2025 the national total number of honey bee colonies grew to a record high 854,653, 1.3% more than the previous year and 5.1% higher than the average of the previous four years. Honey production, by volume, for 2025 rose by 3.81% from a year earlier to 84.1 million pounds, less than one percent below the average volume of the previous four years. With higher volumes and relatively low prices for honey, the 2025 total national value of the harvest increased by 6.4% over the previous year to $241 million from $227 million. The total value of the 2025 harvest is 6.7% lower than the average of the previous four years ($259 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 (65%) 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 three prairie provinces produced 80% of the total national honey production in 2025, totaling 66,970 thousand pounds (out of a total national production of 84,080 thousand pounds).

This regional concentration of honey production is echoed in the regional balance of honey exports. The prairie provinces were responsible for 81% of 2025 export shipments of honey by value, with the remainder (19%) of Canadian honey exports from Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. In 2025, the United States received 56.1% (5,354 metric tonnes) of total annual honey exports by volume, with Japan receiving 41% (3,914 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 colony 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) to not pose any unacceptable risks to Canada. Package bees are imported from a short list of approved source countries. The data for 2025 queen bee imports are currently under review. This report will be updated when the data is available.

1. Production

1.1 Number of beekeepers Table 1.1 note 1 by province

1.2. Number of coloniesTable 1.2 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 1.4 note 1 by province – thousands of pounds

1.5. Production valueTable 1.5 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 2.2.1 note 1 — by value (thousands of Canadian dollars)

2.2.2. Canada's honey exports by provinceTable 2.2.2 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 2.3.5 note 1 imports — by value (Canadian dollars)

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

2.3.7. Canada's sources of queen bee importsTable 2.3.7 note 1 — by value (Canadian dollars)

2.3.8. Canada's sources of queen bee importsTable 2.3.8 note 1 — by quantity (number)

3. Consumption

3.1. Honey availableTable note 1Table note 2 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 4.2.1 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