HONEY & HONEYBEES
About 1/3 of all honeybee colonies in the U.S. perished during 2007 due to several deadly viruses (collectively called Colony Collapse Disorder). Little is understood about the reasons this problem has become so severe.
In ancient Egypt, citizens paid their taxes with honey.
There are 211,600 beekeepers and 2.63 million colonies of honeybees, which produce more than 220 million pounds of honey each year in the United States.
A single hive of honeybees may contain as many as 80,000 bees.
Honey was most likely the first sweet 'treat' that humans discovered.
It takes about 2 million flower visits by honeybees to produce 1 pound of honey.
* The honey bee was designated the official state insect of Missouri on July 3, 1985.
* The honeybee, apis mellifera, is the New Jersey state bug.
* South Dakota adopted the honey bee as the state insect in 1978.
* The honeybee is the official state insect of Maine.
* Utah is known as the beehive state.
The popular and varied uses of honey as a medicine in ancient Egypt can be seen in Egyptian medical texts dating back to about 2,500 B.C. In these texts, honey is listed in hundreds of remedies.
Since honey has the ability to absorb and retain moisture, it is used in the baking industry to keep baked goods fresh and moist.
Honey contains 18 more calories per tablespoon than refined sugar.
Never give honey to infants under 1 year old, as honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores to which infants have very little resistance. Once ingested, these spores may germinate and release deadly toxins. Once infants are a year or so old, they have developed some resistance to botulinum spores.
In the 16th century, Conquering Spaniards found that the natives of Mexico and Central America had already developed beekeeping. A distinct family of stingless bees (not true honey bees) was native to these regions.
European settlers introduced European honey bees to New England in about 1638. North American natives called these honey bees the "white man's flies." Honey was used to prepare food and beverages, to make cement, to preserve fruits, to concoct furniture paste-polish and varnish and for medicinal purposes.
Since 1980, U.S. honey production has averaged around 200 million pounds per year. In 2003, over 181 million pounds of honey were produced in the United States. The average annual yield per colony was 69.9 pounds of honey. The average producer price per pound was $1.40. The 2003 honey crop was valued at over $255 million.
National Honey Board www.honey.com
The U.S. per capita consumption of honey is around 1.31 pounds per year. (2004)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that there are between 139,600 and 212,000 beekeepers in the United States. The vast majority (95%) are hobbyists with less than 25 hives. In addition, about 4% are part-timers who keep from 25 to 299 hives. Together, hobbyists and part-timers account for about 50 percent of bee colonies and about 40 percent of honey produced. The number of U.S. bee colonies producing honey in 2003 was 2.59 million (based on beekeepers who manage five or more colonies).
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