AI Analysis: Production and value of honey

Executive Summary

Statistics Canada's 'Production and Value of Honey' dataset (Table 32100353) spans 102 years (1924–2025) across 10 geographies and reveals a Canadian honey industry undergoing significant consolidation, with the number of beekeepers falling ~61% even as colony counts nearly doubled (+95%). Alberta and Saskatchewan dominate national production, while honey values have surged dramatically over the century, with total honey value reaching a maximum of $283,531 thousand. Recent years show record-breaking colony counts, with 2025 hitting an all-time high of 854,653 colonies.

Key Findings

• The Canadian honey industry has consolidated sharply over 102 years: the number of beekeepers declined by ~61% while colony counts grew by ~95%, meaning surviving operations now manage far more hives per beekeeper.
• Alberta leads all provinces in both average honey production (17,507 tonnes) and average honey value ($19,814K), with Saskatchewan ranking second in both categories (10,372 tonnes; $10,576K).
• Colony counts hit an all-time record of 854,653 in 2025 (z-score of 2.25), with 2021 and 2024 also flagged as statistical outliers, signaling an accelerating modern growth trend.
• The most anomalous yield year on record was 1998, when average yield per colony reached 180 lbs — a z-score of 2.90 above the historical mean of 92 lbs — while 1946 recorded the lowest yield at just 43 lbs per colony.
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan lead all provinces in yield efficiency at ~136.6 lbs per colony, while New Brunswick ranks last at 58.6 lbs per colony, highlighting significant regional productivity gaps.
• Prince Edward Island consistently ranks last across nearly all metrics, with the fewest beekeepers (avg 73), fewest colonies (avg 1,361), lowest production (avg 82.5 tonnes), and lowest average honey value ($41.4K).
• The total value of natural honey shows a heavily right-skewed distribution — with a median of just $1,240K but a maximum of $283,531K — reflecting decades of dramatic price and volume growth concentrated in recent years.