USDA to survey bee colony loss in January

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will be collecting information about colony loss in the honey industry throughout the country. The January 2024 quarterly colony loss survey will collect information about colony inventory and loss from more than 400 producers with honeybee colonies in the Northeastern Region of the United States.

“The information from these surveys directly impacts our region’s beekeepers and honey producers,” said King Whetstone, NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office deputy director. “Beekeepers and producers can use the survey results when making business plans and marketing decisions. Cooperative extensions use the data to provide needed outreach and education, and state departments and agencies of agriculture use the information to set insurance values.”

To ensure all survey participants have an opportunity to respond, NASS interviewers will contact producers who do not respond by mail or online to conduct interviews. NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

Results will be available in the Honey Bee Colonies online report at nass.usda.gov/publications.