Help Save the Annual Bee/Honey Production Report:Annual Report Still in Jepordy

A couple of weeks ago Bee Culture’s Buzz informed you that the Annual NASS Honey Report was slated to be discontinued, and, perhaps the monthly ERS Honey Price Report was in trouble, too. We urged you to write a short note requesting that they NOT be discontinued because of the their importance to the beekeeping industry.

Now it seems some money has been reinstated, and that some of those reports will remain…those that get the most support from their members. The American Federation has joined the parade and they are urging their members to support continuing these reports. Below is their letter. The Buzz report generated some response, but more is needed. If you sent a letter to the original cause, send it again to the person listed below. We need these reports.

USDA-NASS had announced that it would discontinue the annual bee/honey production report along with a wide range of agricultural survey programs. Now, Congress has passed the 2012 Agricultural Appropriations bill, which gives the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) sufficient funding to continue some of these reports – those that receive the most support from their industries.

Beekeepers need to contact NASS to urge that the agency continue the annual bee/honey report.

“This is the only production report NASS provides for the honey industry,” says ABF president David Mendes. “We have a chance to save the report. It is important that the honey industry let NASS know how critical this annual report is to the industry and support the reinstatement of its publication.”

In addition to giving producers information on honey production and colony numbers in the various states, the annual report is used by the National Honey Board as a comparison to its domestic assessment collections and is a vital component of the fledgling beekeeper crop insurance program.

“When we go to Congress and USDA to make our case for programs to benefit beekeepers, we rely on the annual bee/honey report as an indication of the health and trends of our industry. Without the NASS report, we would have nothing to base our requests on,” said Mendes.

Beekeepers, packers, state associations and others associated with the honey industry are encouraged to take a moment to send an e-mail to the Joseph Prusacki, NASS statistics division director, at Joseph_Prusacki@nass.usda.gov, explaining the importance of this report to you and to the industry.

The same communication should be sent to your members of Congress and to the NASS field office in your state. To locate the NASS office in your state, go to http://nass.usda.gov/About_NASS/sso_directory.pdf.