USDA to Measure Quarterly Colony Loss
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be collecting information about colony loss in the honey industry. The Quarterly Colony Loss survey will be conducted over the period of June 2018 through July 2018. This survey collects information about colony inventory and loss from more than 400 producers with bee colonies in the Northeastern Region of the United States.
“The information from these surveys directly impacts our region’s beekeepers and honey producers,” said King Whetstone, Director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Regional Field Office. “Keepers and producers can use the survey results when making business plans and marketing decisions. Cooperative Extension uses the data to provide needed outreach and education and State Departments and Agencies of Agriculture use the information to set insurance values.”
In these surveys, NASS asks participants to answer a variety of questions about their colonies, including reasons for colony losses. For their convenience, survey participants have the option to respond online. As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. NASS safeguards the confidentiality of all responses and publishes only State and National level data, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified.
The Honey Bee Colonies publication will be available online on August 1, 2018. Previous Honey Bee Colonies publications are also available for review. These reports can be found online. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at 1.800.498.1518.