Swarmed price index · seller prices read weekly · last read September 28, 2026

Honey Prices, Tracked Weekly

What honey sells for per pound right now, what beekeepers are paid, and how both have moved since 1874

The short version

US beekeepers were paid $3.05 a pound for their honey in 2025. Sold direct, the same honey fetches $5.48 a pound by the pail and $16.70 a pound in jars.
Supermarket honey works out at $9.32 a pound. A jar from a beekeeper's own storefront costs about 1.8x that.
Imported honey arrived at $1.58 a pound in June 2026, against $2.07 paid to US beekeepers for bulk honey the same month.

Live, weekly

What 248 beekeeping storefronts are asking for honey

Our own scan. Last read 28 September 2026.

Retail jars

$16.70

per pound, asked by 147 sellers

Midsize

$7.92

per pound, asked by 49 sellers

Bulk pails

$5.48

per pound, asked by 29 sellers

Asking prices from beekeeping storefronts, checked weekly. Not what buyers actually paid, and not a USDA survey.

USDA, monthly

What beekeepers are paid per pound for bulk honey

Up 5.3% on May 2026, the previous month we have. Bulk sales, in today's money, from the USDA National Honey Report.

Paid to beekeepers

$2.00

per pound in bulk, USDA, June 2026

A different market from the asking prices above: what a beekeeper is paid for honey sold by the barrel, which is why it sits so far under the jar price. USDA’s annual figure across all sales channels was $3.05 a pound in 2025. The vertical scale is fitted to the prices shown rather than starting at zero, so month-to-month movement is readable. Breaks in the line are months with no report issue in our parse, left empty rather than joined up: USDA archives the report about sixteen months in arrears, so recent months arrive one at a time.

New to beekeeping? The words on this page

Paid to beekeepers: What a beekeeper receives when honey first leaves the farm, before anyone bottles, ships or marks it up. Economists call this the farm-gate price.
Pail: A bucket of honey, typically holding forty pounds or more, sold to bakers, brewers and other beekeepers. Buying in bulk costs far less per pound than buying in jars.
Wholesale: Sold in bulk to a business that resells it, rather than to the person who eats it. Wholesale prices sit well below what a shopper pays.
Packer: A company that buys honey in bulk from beekeepers and importers, blends and bottles it, and sells it to shops under a brand name.
Landed price: What imported honey costs once it reaches the US, including shipping, before a packer bottles it or a shop adds its margin.
Colour grade: USDA grades honey by colour, from water white through amber to dark. Lighter honey tends to taste milder; darker honey is stronger.
Comb honey: Honey sold still sealed in the wax comb the bees built, rather than spun out and bottled. It was the usual way to sell honey before the 1900s.
In today's money: Older prices converted into what the same money buys now, using the government's consumer price index. It is the only fair way to compare a price from 1987 with one from this year.

This week

What honey actually sells for, read from sellers every week

Buying by the costs about a third of what the same honey costs in jars: $5.48 a pound against $16.70. Packaging, bottling and retail margin account for the gap. Across a whole year of sales, beekeepers themselves receive $3.05 a pound on average. USDA publishes a honey price once a year and its market report once a month; this is a weekly read of what beekeeping storefronts ask.

$5.48 / $7.92 / $16.70Asking price per pound: pail / midsize / jar225 seller quotes, checked weekly

One pound of honey, six prices

What the same pound of honey sells for at each step between the hive and your table.

The two left-hand prices are honey sold in bulk between businesses, from USDA. The rest are what a person pays to take a pound home. The gap between them pays for jars, bottling, shipping, the shop, and the beekeeper's own time.

One pound of honey at six points between import and a beekeeper's jar, USD per pound
Price point	USD per lb	Who pays it	Source
Imported	1.58	what a packer pays for foreign honey landed in the US	USDA AMS National Honey Report, June 2026
US bulk	2.07	what a packer pays a US beekeeper by the drum	USDA AMS National Honey Report, June 2026
Pail	5.48	a bucket of 40 lb or more, bought from a beekeeper	Swarmed weekly seller panel
Midsize	7.92	a tub of 10 to 40 lb, bought from a beekeeper	Swarmed weekly seller panel
Supermarket	9.32	the middle jar on a supermarket shelf	Swarmed supermarket shelf read
Beekeeper's jar	16.7	a jar of under 10 lb from a beekeeper's own storefront	Swarmed weekly seller panel

How to read these numbers (3 notes)

What sellers ask, not what buyers paid: A listing price is what a seller wants. Nobody publishes what honey actually sold for.
Sellers who publish a list: These are storefronts with a readable price list, not a random draw of US honey sellers.
A snapshot, not a trend: One week of prices so far. It says what sellers charge now, not how honey prices have moved.

Supermarket

A beekeeper's honey costs 1.8x what the supermarket charges

The middle jar on a supermarket shelf works out at $9.32 a pound, against $16.70 from a beekeeper's own storefront. City matters too: the dearest of the 8 cities we read sits 19% above the cheapest. Store-brand jars are the cheap end, and the national brands beside them cost 30% more.

$9.32Supermarket shelf, per poundacross 8 metro stores

What honey costs in the supermarket

The middle price on the shelf, in eight cities.

Beekeepers selling their own honey ask about 1.8 times this. Each bar is a single store, so read them as a range rather than a ranking of cities.

Median supermarket sticker price per pound of honey by sampled market, one Kroger-group store per market
Market	Median USD per lb	25th percentile USD	75th percentile USD	Products
Los Angeles CA	10.29	7.99	11.99	48
Seattle WA	9.33	7.49	11.99	16
Atlanta GA	9.32	7.29	9.99	27
Cincinnati OH	9.32	7.66	11.05	42
Richmond VA	9.32	7.66	11.99	50
Houston TX	9.29	7.99	11.33	53
Denver CO	8.74	7.79	11.32	51
Detroit MI	8.65	7.32	11.33	59

Where the honey on the shelf comes from

Median sticker price a pound, by the country the packer declares.

171 products that declare an origin, across 70 stores. Not every listing declares one.

Origin is the packer’s own declaration, read from the listing rather than inferred. Turkey honey carries the highest median at $11.49 a pound and Argentina the lowest at $5.33, a spread of 116%.

Supermarket honey median price per pound by declared country of origin
Origin	$/lb	Products	Stores
Turkey	11.49	5	22
United States	9.32	154	70
Brazil	7.5	8	68
Argentina	5.33	4	70

How to read these numbers (3 notes)

One chain, and not all of the country: The city bars are one store each. The national and origin figures read many more shops of the same chain, but it is still one chain, and it has none across much of the Northeast.
A level, not yet a trend: Shelf prices barely move week to week, so this is today's level rather than a trend.
Organic is not the bargain it looks like: Lumped together, organic honey looks cheaper. Compared like with like inside each brand tier it costs more. Store-brand jars are both cheaper and more often organic, which creates the illusion.

Honey price

Honey prices have roughly doubled since 1987, once inflation is removed

Beekeepers received $3.05 per pound in 2025, against about 50 cents in 1987. The sticker price rose sixfold, but 1987's 50 cents is worth about $1.43 in , so the rise is closer to double. On that basis 2025 is the third-best year on record, behind 2022 and 2021.

$3.05/lb2025 honey priceAbout double 1987, after inflation

Honey price and production, 1987 to 2025

What beekeepers get paid per pound, in sticker price and in today's money.

The sticker price rose about 6x. Adjusted for inflation it roughly doubled, and 2025 sits below the 2022 peak.

US honey price received by beekeepers and total production, by year, from USDA NASS.
Year	Price USD/lb nominal	Price USD/lb constant 2025	Production lb
1987	0.503	1.4252	235436000
1988	0.5	1.3612	222757000
1989	0.498	1.2933	180634000
1990	0.537	1.3232	198674000
1991	0.556	1.3143	220917000
1992	0.55	1.2619	221676000
1993	0.539	1.2012	230575000
1994	0.528	1.1468	218187000
1995	0.685	1.4472	211073000
1996	0.888	1.8227	199511000
1997	0.752	1.5083	196536000
1998	0.655	1.2936	220527000
1999	0.601	1.1616	203068000
2000	0.597	1.1161	220286000
2001	0.704	1.28	186051000
2002	1.327	2.3751	171718000
2003	1.387	2.4274	181724000
2004	1.088	1.8544	183494000
2005	0.922	1.5199	174614000
2006	1.005	1.605	154910000
2007	1.077	1.6723	148341000
2008	1.421	2.1248	163789000
2009	1.473	2.2104	146416000
2010	1.619	2.3903	176462000
2011	1.765	2.5261	148357000
2012	1.992	2.7932	142296000
2013	2.14	2.9574	149550000
2014	2.17	2.951	178310000
2015	2.08	2.8253	156705000
2016	2.12	2.8437	162246000
2017	2.2	2.8895	149025000
2018	2.21	2.8334	154008000
2019	1.99	2.506	156922000
2020	2.1	2.6123	147594000
2021	2.65	3.1485	126744000
2022	3.01	3.3112	125331000
2023	2.55	2.6943	139471000
2024	2.41	2.4734	134393000
2025	3.05	3.05	115716000

Honey per colony, 1987 to 2025

How much honey the average hive produces in a year.

Each hive makes noticeably less honey than it did in the late 1980s, even though the number of hives has not fallen nearly as much.

Honey produced per colony each year, derived as US production divided by colonies producing honey, from USDA NASS
Year	Yield lb per colony
1987	71
1988	66.1
1989	51.2
1990	61.7
1991	68.8
1992	72.8
1993	80.2
1994	78.4
1995	79.5
1996	77.3
1997	74.7
1998	83.6
1999	76.6
2000	84
2001	73
2002	66.7
2003	69.9
2004	71.8
2005	72.5
2006	64.7
2007	60.7
2008	69.9
2009	58.6
2010	65.6
2011	59.6
2012	56
2013	56.6
2014	65.1
2015	58.9
2016	58.4
2017	55.5
2018	54.5
2019	55.8
2020	54.5
2021	47
2022	47
2023	55.1
2024	51.7
2025	48

How to read these numbers (3 notes)

Mixed sales channels: Wholesale, retail and cooperative sales averaged together, so it is not a bulk price.
Farms only: Covers operations with five or more colonies. Hobby beekeepers are not surveyed.
Inflation adjustment: Adjusted using the general cost of living, not a beekeeper's own costs like feed, fuel and packaging.

Since 1874

A century and a half of honey prices, in one line

Before the First World War, white at around $5.29 a pound in today's money. What has sat near $2 for most of the modern record, and 2025's $3.05 is the top of that range. The two figures measure different points in the chain, wholesale against the farm gate, so the gap between them is partly the middleman. What travels is the shape: honey was expensive, got cheap, and is dear again.

$5.29 vs $3.05Wholesale before 1914 vs paid to beekeepers todayBoth in 2025 dollars, 116 years apart

Honey, 1874 to today

Constant 2025 dollars a pound. The line thickens where more documents stand behind the year, and the strip below shows which source covers which decade.

Trade press quotations: wholesale, comb white. American Bee Journal and Gleanings in Bee Culture, scanned by the Internet Archive.
USDA yearbooks: price received by beekeepers. Agricultural Statistics, read from the scanned editions.
USDA NASS: price received by beekeepers. Quick Stats, the annual Bee and Honey Inquiry.

The trade press quoted wholesale honey; USDA reports what beekeepers were paid. Wholesale sits higher by construction, so read the shape of a line rather than the step between two of them.

Honey price per pound by year and source, 1874 to 2025
Year	Source	Real $/lb (2025)	Documents behind the year
1874	Trade press quotations	5.976	36
1875	Trade press quotations	6.303	30
1876	Trade press quotations	6.652	19
1877	Trade press quotations	5.367	23
1878	Trade press quotations	4.421	19
1879	Trade press quotations	3.801	21
1880	Trade press quotations	5.672	25
1881	Trade press quotations	6.152	121
1882	Trade press quotations	6.506	144
1883	Trade press quotations	5.874	100
1884	Trade press quotations	5.69	152
1885	Trade press quotations	4.884	116
1886	Trade press quotations	4.3	190
1887	Trade press quotations	4.838	192
1888	Trade press quotations	5.644	142
1889	Trade press quotations	5.554	134
1890	Trade press quotations	5.017	199
1891	Trade press quotations	5.465	198
1892	Trade press quotations	5.375	198
1893	Trade press quotations	5.285	156
1895	Trade press quotations	4.888	15
1896	Trade press quotations	5.031	12
1899	Trade press quotations	4.644	52
1900	Trade press quotations	5.611	75
1901	Trade press quotations	5.321	62
1902	Trade press quotations	5.21	55
1903	Trade press quotations	5.196	46
1904	Trade press quotations	4.748	69
1905	Trade press quotations	4.838	60
1906	Trade press quotations	5.196	90
1907	Trade press quotations	3.822	56
1909	Trade press quotations	5.017	10
1910	Trade press quotations	5.356	17
1911	Trade press quotations	5.356	17
1912	Trade press quotations	5.505	23
1913	Trade press quotations	5.069	20
1914	Trade press quotations	4.821	14
1940	USDA yearbooks	1.402	2
1941	USDA yearbooks	1.576	2
1942	USDA yearbooks	2.719	4
1943	USDA yearbooks	3.126	4
1944	USDA yearbooks	3.237	2
1945	USDA yearbooks	3.326	3
1947	USDA yearbooks	3.59	3
1948	USDA yearbooks	2.278	1
1949	USDA yearbooks	2.03	2
1950	USDA yearbooks	2.047	3
1951	USDA yearbooks	1.985	3
1952	USDA yearbooks	1.964	1
1953	USDA yearbooks	1.986	1
1954	USDA yearbooks	2.038	2
1955	USDA yearbooks	2.139	2
1956	USDA yearbooks	2.25	1
1957	USDA yearbooks	2.144	3
1958	USDA yearbooks	1.942	2
1959	USDA yearbooks	1.878	2
1960	USDA yearbooks	1.948	3
1961	USDA yearbooks	1.939	3
1962	USDA yearbooks	1.852	2
1963	USDA yearbooks	1.893	3
1964	USDA yearbooks	1.931	3
1965	USDA yearbooks	1.819	3
1966	USDA yearbooks	1.727	2
1967	USDA yearbooks	1.603	3
1968	USDA yearbooks	1.565	3
1969	USDA yearbooks	1.536	1
1970	USDA yearbooks	1.442	3
1971	USDA yearbooks	1.733	1
1973	USDA yearbooks	3.22	1
1974	USDA yearbooks	3.329	1
1975	USDA yearbooks	3.022	2
1976	USDA yearbooks	2.823	2
1977	USDA yearbooks	3.082	2
1978	USDA yearbooks	2.695	2
1979	USDA yearbooks	2.631	2
1980	USDA yearbooks	2.403	1
1981	USDA yearbooks	2.125	1
1987	USDA NASS	1.425	official series
1988	USDA NASS	1.361	official series
1989	USDA NASS	1.293	official series
1990	USDA NASS	1.323	official series
1991	USDA NASS	1.314	official series
1992	USDA NASS	1.262	official series
1993	USDA NASS	1.201	official series
1994	USDA NASS	1.147	official series
1995	USDA NASS	1.447	official series
1996	USDA NASS	1.823	official series
1997	USDA NASS	1.508	official series
1998	USDA NASS	1.294	official series
1999	USDA NASS	1.162	official series
2000	USDA NASS	1.116	official series
2001	USDA NASS	1.28	official series
2002	USDA NASS	2.375	official series
2003	USDA NASS	2.427	official series
2004	USDA NASS	1.854	official series
2005	USDA NASS	1.52	official series
2006	USDA NASS	1.605	official series
2007	USDA NASS	1.672	official series
2008	USDA NASS	2.125	official series
2009	USDA NASS	2.21	official series
2010	USDA NASS	2.39	official series
2011	USDA NASS	2.526	official series
2012	USDA NASS	2.793	official series
2013	USDA NASS	2.957	official series
2014	USDA NASS	2.951	official series
2015	USDA NASS	2.825	official series
2016	USDA NASS	2.844	official series
2017	USDA NASS	2.889	official series
2018	USDA NASS	2.833	official series
2019	USDA NASS	2.506	official series
2020	USDA NASS	2.612	official series
2021	USDA NASS	3.148	official series
2022	USDA NASS	3.311	official series
2023	USDA NASS	2.694	official series
2024	USDA NASS	2.473	official series
2025	USDA NASS	3.05	official series

How to read these numbers (3 notes)

Two different prices: The old figures are what honey wholesaled for; the newer ones are what beekeepers were paid. Wholesale is higher because it includes the middleman.
Inflation before 1913: Official inflation figures only start in 1913, so anything earlier is adjusted using historians' reconstructions.
Comb honey: The old line follows comb honey in the wax, which is how most honey was sold then.

Imports

Imported honey lands well below what US beekeepers are paid

In June 2026 US beekeepers were paid about $2.07 a pound while imported honey at $1.58. The cheapest regular source, Vietnam, averages $1.10 across the whole period. The gap has narrowed, from $0.73 to $0.49 a pound, because import prices have risen faster than American ones.

$2.07 vs $1.58US price vs imported, per poundgap down from $0.73 in November 2018

Imported honey against what US beekeepers are paid

Both lines in today's money. The gap between them is what US beekeepers are competing against.

The spread has narrowed from $0.93 a pound in November 2018 to $0.48 in June 2026: imported honey has risen faster than the US price, not the other way round. The cheapest regular source over the whole span is Vietnam at $1.10. USDA National Honey Report. What US beekeepers are paid when they sell 10,000 lb or more at a time, and what importers pay at the dock with duty included. Neither is a shop price.

Monthly mean price paid to US beekeepers against the mean price paid by importers at the dock, from USDA AMS National Honey Report issues
Month	Paid to US beekeepers USD per lb	Paid by importers USD per lb	Spread USD
November 2018	2.36	1.43	0.93
December 2018	2.38	1.46	0.92
January 2019	2.39	1.38	1.01
February 2019	2.29	1.41	0.88
March 2019	2.38	1.38	1
April 2019	2.72	1.21	1.51
May 2019	2.49	1.28	1.21
June 2019	2.36	1.26	1.1
July 2019	2.36	1.33	1.03
August 2019	2.36	1.25	1.11
September 2019	2.17	1.3	0.87
October 2019	2.1	1.24	0.86
November 2019	2.13	1.28	0.85
December 2019	2.12	1.25	0.87
January 2020	2.11	1.29	0.82
February 2020	1.94	1.17	0.77
March 2020	1.93	1.18	0.75
April 2020	2.03	1.21	0.82
May 2020	2.16	1.18	0.98
June 2020	2.11	1.16	0.95
July 2020	2.05	1.17	0.88
August 2020	2.17	1.19	0.98
September 2020	2.08	1.2	0.88
October 2020	2.05	1.3	0.75
November 2020	2.1	1.39	0.71
December 2020	2.01	1.35	0.66
January 2021	2.12	1.54	0.58
February 2021	1.92	1.52	0.4
March 2021	2.19	1.6	0.59
April 2021	2.21	1.63	0.58
May 2021	2.07	1.65	0.42
June 2021	2.3	1.69	0.61
July 2021	2.31	1.82	0.49
August 2021	2.61	1.78	0.83
September 2021	2.63	1.75	0.88
October 2021	2.6	1.84	0.76
November 2021	2.61	2.07	0.54
December 2021	2.58	2.1	0.48
January 2022	2.53	2.34	0.19
February 2022	2.52	2.56	-0.04
March 2022	2.47	2.43	0.04
April 2022	2.78	2.47	0.31
May 2022	3.1	2.43	0.67
June 2022	3.09	2.29	0.8
July 2022	3.01	2.34	0.67
August 2022	2.96	2.32	0.64
September 2022	2.92	2.36	0.56
October 2022	2.95	2.33	0.62
November 2022	2.91	2.28	0.63
December 2022	2.94	2.33	0.61
January 2023	2.84	2.29	0.55
February 2023	2.81	2.19	0.62
March 2023	2.9	2.2	0.7
April 2023	2.96	2.1	0.86
May 2023	2.84	1.77	1.07
June 2023	2.99	1.75	1.24
July 2023	2.89	1.55	1.34
August 2023	2.74	1.47	1.27
September 2023	2.54	1.49	1.05
October 2023	2.56	1.42	1.14
November 2023	2.57	1.32	1.25
December 2023	2.47	1.39	1.08
January 2024	2.19	1.48	0.71
February 2024	2.06	1.54	0.52
March 2024	2.34	1.23	1.11
April 2024	2.04	1.22	0.82
May 2024	2.07	1.25	0.82
June 2024	2	1.28	0.72
July 2024	1.98	1.27	0.71
August 2024	2.1	1.27	0.83
September 2024	2.14	1.28	0.86
October 2024	2.17	1.32	0.85
December 2024	2.11	1.33	0.78
January 2025	1.74	1.39	0.35
February 2025	2.12	1.37	0.75
April 2025	2.14	1.5	0.64
June 2025	1.91	1.43	0.48
August 2025	1.98	1.52	0.46
January 2026	1.85	1.63	0.22
April 2026	1.83	1.34	0.49
May 2026	1.9	1.49	0.41
June 2026	2	1.52	0.48

How to read these numbers (3 notes)

Two different deals: US prices are paid to beekeepers in 10,000 lb lots; import prices are paid at the dock. Neither is what a shopper pays.
Unweighted: A country shipping one container counts the same here as one shipping a hundred. The next section weighs each one by how much actually arrived.
Not all the same honey: Floral source and colour grade vary between shipments, and the mix changes month to month.

More findings

More from the data

The cross-checks and the detail behind the story above. Open any of them for the full finding and its charts.

By state

North Dakota produces more honey than the next two states combined

North Dakota, 30.8M lbTop producer

North Dakota produced about 31 million pounds in 2025, more than California and Montana combined. Volume and price run opposite: North Dakota received the lowest price per pound at $1.89, while North Carolina, the smallest producer listed, received the highest at $7.99.

Where honey pays, state by state

What beekeepers were paid per pound in 2025. The darker the cell, the more they were paid. Blank cells are states USDA no longer prices on their own.

North Dakota was paid least, $1.89 a pound, and made more honey than any other state; North Carolina was paid most, $7.99. States that produce a lot mostly sell in bulk to packers, and states that produce a little sell more of it in jars, direct. The blank states are pooled by USDA as "Other States", paid $3.75 a pound between them.

Honey price received by beekeepers, per pound, by state, 2025, from USDA NASS
State	Price paid (USD/lb)	Production (lb)
North Carolina	7.99	672000
Ohio	6.45	765000
Iowa	5.43	2108000
New York	5.14	2912000
Wisconsin	4.52	1500000
Washington	4.36	2046000
Pennsylvania	4.33	1425000
Florida	3.94	3616000
Texas	3.91	2160000
Georgia	3.68	2144000
Michigan	3.27	3738000
California	2.57	11025000
Louisiana	2.47	3286000
South Dakota	2.44	8200000
Minnesota	2.38	5650000
Mississippi	2.32	2225000
Montana	2.18	10455000
Oregon	2.09	2349000
Idaho	2.07	3016000
North Dakota	1.89	30820000

State by state, 2025

Pick a measure to see how states compare.

Show “Other States”

“Other States” is not a place. It is every state USDA stopped listing on its own in 2024, added together, so it is left out by default: ranking it against a single state would not be a fair comparison. More than 40 states used to be listed individually, and about 20 are now.

US states ranked by price per lb, 2025, from USDA NASS
State	Price USD/lb	Production lb	Colonies	Yield lb per colony
North Dakota	1.89	30820000	460000	67
California	2.57	11025000	315000	35
Montana	2.18	10455000	123000	85
South Dakota	2.44	8200000	205000	40
Minnesota	2.38	5650000	113000	50
Michigan	3.27	3738000	89000	42
Florida	3.94	3616000	113000	32
Louisiana	2.47	3286000	62000	53
Idaho	2.07	3016000	104000	29
New York	5.14	2912000	52000	56
Oregon	2.09	2349000	87000	27
Mississippi	2.32	2225000	25000	89
Texas	3.91	2160000	72000	30
Georgia	3.68	2144000	67000	32
Iowa	5.43	2108000	34000	62
Washington	4.36	2046000	66000	31
Wisconsin	4.52	1500000	50000	30
Pennsylvania	4.33	1425000	25000	57
Ohio	6.45	765000	17000	45
North Carolina	7.99	672000	16000	42
Other States (combined)	3.75	15604000	317000	49

Big producers get paid the least per pound

Each dot is a state. Further right means more honey; higher means a better price per pound.

The states making the most honey get the lowest price per pound, because they sell in bulk. Small states sell direct to customers and get more per jar.

Honey production against price received per pound for the 20 individually reported US states, 2025, from USDA NASS
State	Production lb	Price USD per lb
North Dakota	30820000	1.89
California	11025000	2.57
Montana	10455000	2.18
South Dakota	8200000	2.44
Minnesota	5650000	2.38
Michigan	3738000	3.27
Florida	3616000	3.94
Louisiana	3286000	2.47
Idaho	3016000	2.07
New York	2912000	5.14
Oregon	2349000	2.09
Mississippi	2225000	2.32
Texas	2160000	3.91
Georgia	2144000	3.68
Iowa	2108000	5.43
Washington	2046000	4.36
Wisconsin	1500000	4.52
Pennsylvania	1425000	4.33
Ohio	765000	6.45
North Carolina	672000	7.99

How to read these numbers (2 notes)

Fewer states are listed now: More than 40 states were reported individually before 2024. About 20 are now, plus one combined group.
Channel, not quality: Price gaps reflect selling in bulk versus selling retail, not how good the honey is.

By region

The national honey price averages seven very different places

1.50xGap between the dearest and cheapest region, 1 lb jars

$10.30 to $15.44 a pound, averaged over 20 months

Bee Culture Magazine asks beekeepers in seven US regions what they charged and prints the answers every month. Over 20 months Region 7 averaged $15.44 a pound for a one pound jar and Region 5 averaged $10.30: a gap of 1.50x that never closed, with even the tightest month leaving the two ends 1.35x apart. Bulk splits differently. Region 6 is middling at the jar and cheapest at the 60 lb pail, so where honey is cheap depends on which honey you mean.

What the national average is an average of

The dearest and the cheapest of 7 regions each month, with Bee Culture Magazine's own published average through the middle. The edges change hands: they are the month's extremes, not two fixed regions.

Source: Bee Culture Monthly Regional Honey Price Report, Bee Culture Magazine, Jan 2025 to Sep 2026. The report is a self-reported survey of its Honey Reporter Team, used here as a reference series with attribution. A pound in a jar fetches 2.8 times a pound in a pail, which is why the two panels carry their own scales.

Dearest region, cheapest region and published national average per pound, by month, 1 lb jar, retail and 60 lb pail, light, bulk
Month	Retail cheapest $/lb	Retail national $/lb	Retail dearest $/lb	Bulk cheapest $/lb	Bulk national $/lb	Bulk dearest $/lb
2025-01	9.55	11.41	15.67	2.88	4.29	5.6
2025-02	9.5	11.05	18	3.69	4.3	6.11
2025-03	9.86	11.53	15	3.66	4.39	6.67
2025-04	9	12.1	19.6	2.65	4.48	6.39
2025-05	9.26	11.41	15	3.76	4.24	5.98
2025-06	10.26	11.6	15.8	3.75	4.37	5.54
2025-07	10.29	11.75	16.25	3.63	4.27	5.83
2025-08	10.35	12.42	14.03	3.53	4.24	5.45
2025-09	10	11.8	19	3.39	4.25	5.17
2025-10	10.01	11.58	14.6	3.63	4.28	5.47
2025-11	9.93	11.83	13.36	2.95	4.2	4.73
2025-12	9.89	12.03	15.33	3.68	4.39	5.83
2026-01	10.6	12.85	17.6	3.65	4.42	5.83
2026-02	10.45	12.14	15.4	3.02	4.29	5.83
2026-03	10.3	12.2	16	3.36	4.21	5.42
2026-04	10	12.22	14	3.4	4.25	5.87
2026-05	10	12.55	15	3.2	4.12	5.83
2026-06	10.45	11.9	14.4	3.64	4.27	5.83
2026-07	9.68	12.02	14.52	2.98	4.13	4.75
2026-09	10	12.21	14.2	3.8	4.48	5.17

Where a jar sells dearest

Average price of a one pound jar sold retail, per pound, by Bee Culture Magazine region.

Each bar is a region's average over 20 months of Bee Culture Magazine reports. Read the order of the labels against the other chart: Region 5 and Region 6 change places between the two.

1 lb jar, retail: regional mean price per pound, gap to the published national average, and months above it
Region	Mean $/lb	vs national %	Months above national	Months compared
Region 7	15.44	29.4	20	20
Region 2	13.34	11.8	20	20
Region 6	11.98	0.4	10	20
Region 3	11.91	-0.2	12	20
Region 1	11.64	-2.4	5	20
Region 4	10.37	-13	0	20
Region 5	10.3	-13.7	1	20

Where a pail sells dearest

Average price of a 60 lb pail of light honey sold bulk, per pound, by Bee Culture Magazine region.

Each bar is a region's average over 20 months of Bee Culture Magazine reports. Read the order of the labels against the other chart: Region 5 and Region 6 change places between the two.

60 lb pail, light, bulk: regional mean price per pound, gap to the published national average, and months above it
Region	Mean $/lb	vs national %	Months above national	Months compared
Region 2	5.4	25.8	20	20
Region 7	5.24	22.1	19	20
Region 1	4.18	-2.6	6	20
Region 5	4.16	-3.1	6	19
Region 3	4.11	-4.2	3	20
Region 4	3.82	-10.9	0	20
Region 6	3.68	-14.3	1	20

How to read these numbers (4 notes)

Beekeepers reporting, not receipts: These are beekeepers telling a magazine what they charged, not a record of sales. Nobody publishes how many reported in each region.
We know which region, not which states: The magazine prints its regions as a map picture, so we can show that one region is dearest without being able to name the states in it.
It moves when the next issue is read: This series goes forward when somebody reads the next issue, not automatically. A month we haven't got shows as a gap rather than a guess.
Price is not profit: A region where honey sells for more is not automatically a better place to keep bees. This says nothing about what it costs to produce there.

Bulk vs retail

Bulk prices have fallen behind the headline honey price

$0.75 to $1.06 a poundHow far bulk sat below the headline price in 2024-25

it was $0.35 to $0.51 in 2018-20

The headline USDA price blends retail sales with bulk sales to , and bulk alone has grown far more slowly. The gap between the two has roughly doubled since 2018. A beekeeper selling mostly wholesale tracks the lower line, not the headline.

The bulk price has fallen behind the headline price

Both lines in today's money. The official honey price blends retail and bulk sales; bulk alone has grown much more slowly.

A beekeeper selling in bulk to a packer is tracking the lower line, not the headline number.

The USDA NASS annual beekeeper-received price against the AMS quote-weighted wholesale mean, with the gap between them
Year	Headline USD per lb	Bulk USD per lb	Gap USD	Monthly observations
2018	2.83	2.18	0.65	2
2019	2.51	2.07	0.44	11
2020	2.61	1.97	0.64	12
2021	3.15	2.29	0.86	10
2022	3.31	2.66	0.65	11
2023	2.69	2.35	0.34	11
2024	2.47	1.71	0.76	11
2025	3.05	1.99	1.06	5

Wholesale honey, month by month

The bulk price of honey, tracked monthly for nearly seven years, in today's money.

The gaps in the line are months with no reported sales, which happens in deep winter.

Monthly wholesale honey price parsed from USDA AMS National Honey Report issues, with the range of quotes behind each month's mean
Month	Mean USD per lb	Lowest quote USD	Highest quote USD
2018-11	2.11	1.32	2.94
2018-12	2.23	1.33	2.88
2019-01	1.64	1.32	2.75
2019-02	no data	no data	no data
2019-03	2.11	1.38	2.94
2019-04	1.44	1.27	1.59
2019-05	2.25	1.33	3.27
2019-06	2.27	1.33	3.27
2019-07	2.16	1.33	3.26
2019-08	2.08	1.33	2.82
2019-09	2.05	1.32	3.13
2019-10	1.97	1.25	3.13
2019-11	1.91	1.25	3.13
2019-12	1.94	1.25	3.01
2020-01	1.91	1.26	3.86
2020-02	1.79	1.27	2.23
2020-03	1.4	1.25	1.52
2020-04	1.47	1.28	1.66
2020-05	2.04	1.42	2.83
2020-06	2.05	1.42	2.81
2020-07	2	1.42	3.11
2020-08	2.07	1.41	3.1
2020-09	1.99	1.36	2.78
2020-10	1.98	1.4	3.09
2020-11	2.01	1.42	3.09
2020-12	1.92	1.4	2.47
2021-01	no data	no data	no data
2021-02	no data	no data	no data
2021-03	1.83	1.24	2.36
2021-04	1.8	1.23	2.34
2021-05	1.95	1.23	2.87
2021-06	2.08	1.22	2.73
2021-07	2.16	1.23	2.68
2021-08	2.37	1.24	2.94
2021-09	2.45	1.4	3.11
2021-10	2.38	1.21	2.93
2021-11	2.41	1.22	2.9
2021-12	2.43	1.26	2.89
2022-01	no data	no data	no data
2022-02	2.58	1.99	3.18
2022-03	2.43	1.46	3.08
2022-04	2.5	2.03	3.29
2022-05	2.48	1.98	3.25
2022-06	2.62	1.41	3.53
2022-07	2.68	1.48	3.37
2022-08	2.63	1.48	3.53
2022-09	2.66	1.93	3.15
2022-10	2.95	2.81	3.78
2022-11	2.62	1.73	3.03
2022-12	2.68	1.87	3.96
2023-01	no data	no data	no data
2023-02	2.45	1.41	3.21
2023-03	2.56	1.66	3.73
2023-04	2.48	1.26	4.24
2023-05	2.16	1.3	2.96
2023-06	2.25	1.15	4.22
2023-07	2.21	1.05	3.69
2023-08	2.35	1.05	3.41
2023-09	2.53	1.94	3.66
2023-10	2.55	1.05	3.24
2023-11	2.14	1.05	2.99
2023-12	2.07	1.05	3.15
2024-01	no data	no data	no data
2024-02	1.58	1.08	2.44
2024-03	1.78	1.03	3.61
2024-04	1.32	1.07	1.79
2024-05	1.41	1.12	2.31
2024-06	1.72	1.12	3.48
2024-07	1.59	1.1	2.71
2024-08	1.69	1.09	3.07
2024-09	1.84	1.08	3.17
2024-10	1.92	1.11	3.31
2024-11	1.73	0.86	3.06
2024-12	1.69	0.89	3.06
2025-01	no data	no data	no data
2025-02	no data	no data	no data
2025-03	no data	no data	no data
2025-04	2.14	1.86	3.31
2025-05	1.93	1.65	2.28
2025-06	1.9	1.65	2.15
2025-07	2.01	1.64	2.99
2025-08	1.98	1.64	2.98

How to read these numbers (2 notes)

Our own aggregation: Built from the individual quotes in the monthly USDA report. USDA doesn't publish it as one number.
Winter months are missing: Nine of 82 months carry no quotes, every one of them between January and March.

Import volumes

Weighted by what actually arrives, imported honey is cheaper still

$1.33 per lbLanded price, weighted by volume, June 2026

across 28.1 million kg from 12 origins

The quoted average treats a container and a drum alike. Weight each origin by how much actually arrived and the landed price drops: India alone sent 9.6 million kg in June 2026, at $0.85 a pound. The weighted figure is the one a packer is actually comparing against US honey.

Imported honey, weighted by what actually arrived

Total declared value over total kilograms landed, per pound, with monthly import volume behind it

Customs tables from the USDA AMS National Honey Report (CBP ACE). Declared value includes freight and insurance, so this is what importers declared rather than a market quote, and it is not what a packer pays a US beekeeper. The two months whose tables are drawn as images are absent rather than estimated.

Monthly imported honey unit value, computed as total declared value over total kilograms landed, with the volume behind each month
Month	USD per lb	Million kg landed
2020-04	1.01	17.5
2020-05	1.06	15.2
2020-06	1.06	19
2020-07	1.13	15.7
2020-08	1.01	17.6
2020-09	0.98	21.2
2020-10	1.08	15.4
2020-11	1.17	12.2
2020-12	1.13	15.5
2021-01	1.19	16.7
2021-02	1.45	11.7
2021-03	1.45	15.6
2021-04	1.52	17
2021-05	1.6	15.6
2021-06	1.49	22.3
2021-07	1.44	21.8
2021-08	1.29	29.8
2021-09	1.3	23.8
2021-10	1.5	21.5
2021-11	1.61	12.1
2021-12	1.84	6.7
2022-01	2.15	6
2022-02	2.02	6
2022-03	2.03	15.4
2022-04	2.47	15.1
2022-05	2.04	15.1
2022-06	1.87	20.1
2022-07	1.92	20.4
2022-08	1.84	21.8
2022-09	1.8	20.5
2022-10	1.69	19.7
2022-11	1.71	17.6
2022-12	1.72	15.7
2023-01	1.69	13.2
2023-02	1.68	11.8
2023-03	1.68	12.5
2023-04	1.75	11.3
2023-05	1.53	16.2
2023-06	1.44	17.2
2023-07	1.33	15.1
2023-08	1.28	18
2023-09	1.23	22
2023-10	1.33	15.7
2023-11	1.19	18.7
2023-12	1.14	17.5
2024-01	1.28	2.7
2024-02	1.1	14.3
2024-03	1.23	16.2
2024-04	1.1	22.9
2024-05	1.24	20
2024-06	1.3	21.5
2024-07	1.28	19.5
2024-08	1.2	23.7
2024-09	1.27	17.4
2024-10	1.25	18.8
2024-11	1.2	23.9
2024-12	1.17	23.9
2025-01	1.26	17.6
2025-02	1.35	16.8
2025-03	1.4	16.9
2025-08	1.04	23.1
2026-06	1.33	28.1

How to read these numbers (2 notes)

Declared, not quoted: This is what importers told customs they paid, shipping included, so it answers a different question from the quoted prices above.
Not what a shop charges: This is bulk honey in drums, blended and packed long before it reaches a shelf.

Grades and varieties

Naming the flower earns more at the farm and less at the shop

$2.36 vs $2.00Orange Blossom vs mixed flower, paid to beekeepers

18% for naming the flower

When packers buy from beekeepers, Orange Blossom honey fetches $2.36 a pound against $2.00 for ordinary mixed-flower, a premium of 18%; Soybean earns 13.5%. On a supermarket shelf the same label sells for less than an unlabelled blend: there "clover" is the cheap default and "wildflower" does the selling. , the older way of grading honey, is worth almost nothing: the 4 grades sit between $1.92 and $2.00 a pound across 2,099 quotes.

What naming the flower is worth

Against ordinary mixed-flower honey at the farm gate, and against an unlabelled blend on the shelf

Farm-gate figures are USDA AMS producer quotes against a $2.00 mixed-flower baseline. The shop figure is supermarket shelf prices, excluding manuka, which trades near four times clover and is a separate market. Both are percentages against their own baseline, because the two levels are four times apart and should not share an axis.

What naming a floral source is worth, as a percentage against that market's own unnamed baseline, at the farm gate and on a supermarket shelf
Floral source	Market	Difference %	USD per lb	Observations
Orange Blossom	farm	18	2.36	84
Soybean	farm	13.5	2.27	43
Basswood	farm	10	2.2	113
Alfalfa	farm	10	2.2	91
Gallberry	farm	10	2.2	63
Tallow	farm	0	2	72
Named flower, shop shelf	shop	-9.1	no data	442

Colour grade leaves the price alone

The four grades sit $0.08 apart across 2,099 quotes

The axis starts at zero on purpose. Zooming in would turn a $0.08 gap into a visible slope and tell the opposite of what the data says. Lighter honey is widely believed to be worth more; packers do not pay for it.

Median price paid to US beekeepers by honey colour grade, from USDA AMS producer quotes
Colour grade	Median USD per lb	Quotes
Light Amber	2	743
Amber	2	246
Extra Light Amber	1.98	519
White	1.92	591

How to read these numbers (1 note)

Different transactions: The farm and the shop are different sales, so what matters here is which way each one moves, not the gap between them.

Colony loss

Colony loss and bee prices move independently

55.1%, 55.6%, then 39.9%The two worst years, then the latest

2023-24 and 2024-25 were the two worst years on record for colony loss, both above 55%, and bee prices rose in each. Losses then fell to 39.9% in 2025-26 while nuc and package prices rose further. Loss rate alone doesn't explain what it costs to restock.

Colony losses, 2006-07 to 2025-26

The share of managed colonies that die each year.

2023-24 and 2024-25 were the two worst years on record. 2025-26 came back down to about the long-run average.

Annual, winter and summer colony loss rates for US managed honey bee colonies, from the US Beekeeping Survey and its Bee Informed Partnership predecessor
Season	Annual loss %	Winter loss %	Summer loss %
2006-07	no data	32	no data
2007-08	no data	36	no data
2008-09	no data	29	no data
2009-10	no data	33.8	no data
2010-11	36.4	30	no data
2011-12	28.9	21.9	no data
2012-13	45	30.6	25.3
2013-14	34.2	23.7	19.8
2014-15	42.1	23.1	27.4
2015-16	40.5	26.9	23.6
2016-17	33.2	21.1	18.1
2017-18	40.1	30.7	17.1
2018-19	40.7	37.7	20.5
2019-20	43.7	22.2	32
2020-21	50.8	33.5	31.1
2021-22	39	24.2	23.8
2022-23	48.2	37.4	24.9
2023-24	55.1	37.3	30.4
2024-25	55.6	40.2	28.3
2025-26	39.9	30.3	23.3

All four measures on one timeline

The years line up across all four panels. Gaps are missing data, not zeros.

Annual colony loss

Colonies producing honey

Honey price per lb

Nuc price

Nuc prices only begin in 2018, so that panel starts later than the rest. Lines that rise and fall near each other are not evidence that one moves the other.

Annual colony loss, colonies producing honey, honey price per pound and nuc price on a shared timeline from 2010
Year	Annual loss %	Colonies producing honey	Honey USD per lb	Nuc USD
2010	36.4	2692000	1.619	no data
2011	28.9	2491000	1.765	no data
2012	45	2539000	1.992	no data
2013	34.2	2641000	2.14	no data
2014	42.1	2741000	2.17	no data
2015	40.5	2661000	2.08	no data
2016	33.2	2780000	2.12	no data
2017	40.1	2684000	2.2	no data
2018	40.7	2828000	2.21	110
2019	43.7	2812000	1.99	100
2020	50.8	2706000	2.1	105
2021	39	2697000	2.65	125
2022	48.2	2667000	3.01	129
2023	55.1	2532000	2.55	120
2024	55.6	2597000	2.41	109
2025	39.9	2412000	3.05	130

How to read these numbers (2 notes)

Older years are second-hand: Seasons before 2018-19 come from press releases about the research, and the research itself was not available.
Prices have other causes: Feed costs, breeder capacity, inflation and weather all move bee prices, and none of them are in this chart.

Common questions

Straight answers on what honey sells for

How much did honey cost 100 years ago?

White comb honey wholesaled at around 12 cents a pound before the First World War, which is about $5.29 in today's money. That is a wholesale quotation from the trade press, so it sits above what beekeepers themselves were paid. US beekeepers received $3.05 a pound in 2025.

What is honey selling for per pound?

U.S. beekeepers received an average of $3.05 per pound in 2025, up about 27% from $2.41 in 2024. That figure blends retail and bulk sales. Beekeepers selling in bulk to packers received closer to $1.99 per pound, and the gap between those two numbers has roughly doubled since 2018.

Why do beekeepers in some states get paid more per pound?

Mostly sales channel, not honey quality. In 2025 the range ran from $1.89 per pound in North Dakota to $7.99 in North Carolina. The biggest producing states sell in bulk to packers and cooperatives at low per-pound prices, while low-volume states sell direct to local customers at retail.

How much money do beekeepers make per hive from honey?

In 2025 the average colony produced about 48 pounds of honey, which at the national average price works out to roughly $146 of honey revenue per colony before any costs. That is a derived figure, not a surveyed one, and it excludes pollination income, which totalled $225 million nationally.