Montana Bees Buzz Into #2 Spot

Here’s some sweet news for Montana beekeepers: As honey prices hit record highs in 2014, Montana ranked second for honey production.

Treasure State beekeepers produced 14.26 million pounds of commercial honey in 2014, second only to North Dakota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday.

The state had 162,000 honey-producing bee colonies. The value of the state’s honey crop was $29.23 million.

“It was a pretty good year. We made probably a million and a half pounds,” said Dean Egebakken of Harlowton’s Steve E Park Apiaries.

Egebakken and a truckload of Harlowton honeybees were working apple orchards Friday near Othello, Wash. Several apiaries in Montana work the pollination circuit, starting with almonds in California and working their way home via the fruit orchards of the Pacific Northwest.

The honey-making doesn’t really begin until they return home. Park’s bees produce honey from Montana clover and alfalfa.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette