Statistics Canada's latest report shows Canadian honey production was down 4.3% in 2020 or 82.9 million pounds from a year earlier.
The pandemic this year resulted in import and travel restrictions which reduced the supply of queen bees, which are normally flown in commercial flights due to temperature requirements to keep the bees alive.
Those restrictions prevented some beekeepers from restoring their colonies especially in Alberta which had seen high winter losses.
Alberta is the largest honey-producing province and had 9.5% less producing colonies than a year earlier in 2019, mainly due to the poor spring and early summer conditions, as well as high winter losses.
Production in the province fell 4.8% from 2019 levels to 29.9 million pounds for 2020.
Alberta's producers received an average of $2.13 per pound for their honey, up from $1.85 per pound a year earlier.
Overall, the value of Alberta honey rose 9.5% to $63.7 million which was mainly due to the fact that there was less honey on the market.
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