The Story of Pacific Northwest Honey, 1998–2012
The story of honey production in the Pacific Northwest is an interesting one. Idaho has lost the substantial lead it had over its neighbors. However it still produces the most honey and it still maintains the most colonies, by far.
From first glance it appears that something happened in Idaho that was outside of the normal fluctuation of honey production. The other states near-by seem to be stable, albeit not perfect.
After research, it appears this phenomenon can be essentially pinned down to the weather experienced in Idaho. Apparently they did not get much rain:
Like some other major producers, Browning is suspect of the 2011 numbers and doubts honey production in Idaho was up that much, but he said last year’s abundant rainfall “would be an indication production would be up. There would be a lot more forage for the bees and in fact there was.
But Browning and other beekeepers say production will definitely not be up in 2012. (1)
Idaho wasn’t the only northwest state to get hit by this inclement weather:
2011 has not been a good year for honey in the northwest corner of Washington State. 10 months of rain does not make for a good harvest. The rains affected the honey harvest of nearly every beekeeper in the northern Puget Sound area (northwest Washington state). (3)
However, it appears that Idaho was hit the hardest.
Bibliography
Data: https://www.kaggle.com/jessicali9530/honey-production
Sources:
- (1) http://www.capitalpress.com/content/SE-honey-Idaho-072712
- (2) http://www.foothillshoney.com/
- (3) https://brookfieldfarmhoney.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/honey-dearth-in-pacific-northwest-rain-bees-honey/
