Stung by Higher Prices for Honey

Soaring fuel costs and sinking beef prices may be grabbing headlines, but an infestation killing off the tiny honeybee has the potential to really stick the American consumer.

Industry experts say increased world demand for honey coupled with a nationwide infestation of the verroa mite could ultimately lead to higher prices in almost every aisle at the local supermarket.

As much as 50% of the U.S. bee population has been affected by severe weather and an infestation of the mites.

“If we lost that many dairy cattle, you can believe there would be hearings in Congress,” said Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture magazine, in Medina, Ohio.

Roger Morse, professor of apiculture at Cornell University, said the mite stayed west of the Mississippi when it was first spotted in 1987 but that now it is everywhere. Beekeepers “suffered the worst losses across the northern United States that we’ve ever experienced with anything.”

Honey has become an increasingly popular ingredient for everything from bread and beer to nonfood items such as shampoos. Furthermore, bees help pollinate many of the fruits and grains consumed by humans and livestock.

The Department of Agriculture said honey production for 1995 was down by 3% from the previous year and that producer honey stocks were down 29%. Honey prices are up by 21% over 1994.

As honey prices rise, beekeepers are likely to use their remaining bees for honey production instead of hiring them out to pollinate crops. That could hurt Washington’s apple production, Michigan’s cherry crops and the growing of almonds, melons and alfalfa seed in California.

If alfalfa falls victim, experts said, businesses could see higher prices for feed for cattle, chicken and pigs.