Maine beekeepers stay busy as bees with production jump
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported some sweet news for honey production in Maine, as production in the state jumped by 25% to 470,000 pounds in 2015. But the good news doesn’t just stop there, as the number of licensed beekeepers in the state almost tripled over the last decade.
“Maine has taken a number of steps to promote growth in natural resource products and support small entrepreneurs, including beekeepers,” Walt Whitcomb, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, said in a statement. “Regarding production of honey, we are also pursuing strategies to protect pollinators, [which] are also vitally important to fruit and vegetable production. Last year, the DACF unveiled a Pollinator Protection Plan designed to reduce risks to pollinators in the state.”
State apiarist Tony Jadczak reported that 975 resident beekeepers registered 9,789 hives last year, and that 76,058 hives entered the state for crop pollination, down from 83,000 in 2014.
“The number of licensed beekeepers in Maine has almost tripled in the last decade and registered hive counts have jumped from 5,000 to nearly 10,000,” Gov. Paul LePage said in a prepared statement. “That, coupled with the news that honey production was up 25% last year, is yet another sign that Maine agriculture continues to make progress toward the goal of becoming the breadbasket of New England.”
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