42 Important Bee Stats

This is a complete list of up-to-date Bee statistics.

I was actually pretty surprised at all these stats. I've been beekeeping for years now and I didn't even know some of this stuff...

On this page you’ll find hand-picked stats about:

  • The Beekeeping industry
  • Varroa Mites
  • Wild bees and honey bees
  • Honey bee populations
  • Producing honey
  • Bee lifespan
  • Colony collapse disorder

    ...and so much more!

    So without further ado, let’s see the stats!

    worker bees on a piece of wood

    Bee Facts

    • Only 5% of the 20,000 species of bees that exist are social bees or bees that live in colonies with a queen, worker bees, and drones. (okstate).
    • The most common social bees are honey bees and bumble bees. (okstate).
    • The honey bee provides an estimated $20 billion annually from crop pollination of 120 cultivated crops. (okstate).
    • Some colonies will contain as many as 20,000 to 60,000 bees, but most commercial hives are usually smaller. (okstate).
    • For bumble bees, it takes about 12 days for them to go from larvae to full-grown worker bees. (okstate).
    • Worried about bee stings? Estimates of deaths in the U.S. due to insect stings range from 50 to 100 people annually, but it is likely that many additional fatalities are not recorded, since symptoms are similar to those of heart attacks. (okstate).
    • An egg-laying queen is important in establishing a strong honey bee colony, and is capable of producing up to 2,000 eggs within a single day. (Orkin)
    • In the Queen's lifetime, she may lay up to 1 million eggs (HoneyStinger)

    How Long Do Bees Take To Make Honey?

    The process of making honey lasts approximately 45 days, where each bee develops a specific function.

    Source: MaesHoney

    • Between 2011 and 2021, a total of 788 deaths from hornet, wasp, and bee stings occurred (an average of 72 deaths per year). The annual number of deaths ranged from 59 (2012) to 89 (2017). (NIH)
    • Of all the people who died from bee stings, 84% were male. (NIH).
    • There are roughly 100 million managed western honey bee colonies in hives worldwide (The Conversation).
    • There are an estimated 200 - 300 million honey bee colonies worldwide. (The Conversation)
    • Honey bee colonies lost with Colony Collapse Disorder symptoms on operations with five or more colonies was 70,650 colonies from January through March 2024. This represents a 34 percent decrease from the same quarter in 2023 (Cornell).

      How Many Bees In A Hive?

      Honey bee colonies consist of a single queen, hundreds of male drones and 20,000 to 80,000 female worker bees. Each honey bee colony also consists of developing eggs, larvae and pupae

      Source: Orkin

      How Many Bees Are In The World?

      There are approximately 3.5 trillion individual honey bees in the world which equates to about 440 bees per one person.

      Source: The Conversion

      How Long Do Honey Bees Live?

      Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are eusocial insects that exhibit striking caste-specific differences in longevity. Queen honey bees live on average 1–2 years whereas workers live on average 15–38 days in the summer and 150–200 days in the winter

      Source: NIH

      How Fast Are Bees?

      The normal top speed of a worker would be about 15-20 mph (21-28 km/h), when flying to a food source, and about 12 mph (17 km/h), when returning laden down with nectar, pollen, propolis or water.

      Source: BBKA

      Honey Facts

      • In 2022, per capita honey consumption in the United States was about 1.31 pounds per year. (Agmrc).
      • In 2020, 2.71 million honey-producing colonies generated 1.48 million pounds of raw honey. (Agmrc)
      • In 2022, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service suggests more than 1 million honey bee colonies have popped up around the U.S. since 2007, making them the fastest-growing type of livestock in the country (Axios).

      How Much Honey Does A Bee Make?

      On average, individual honey bees will produce a honey yield of about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her entire lifetime. So, a single 16oz. bottle of honey takes more than 1,100 bees just to gather the pollen and nectar inside.

      Source: Local Hive Honey

      • In a single collecting trip, a worker will visit between 50 and 100 flowers. She will return to the hive carrying over half her weight in pollen and nectar. (Local Hive Honey)
      • To make one pound of honey, workers in a hive can fly 55,000 miles and visit two million flowers. (Local Hive Honey)
      • A honey bee will visit about 20,000 flowers in its lifetime gathering food. (HoneyStinger)

      How Many Species of Bees Exist in the United States? 

      According to the United States Geological Survey, there are 20,000 known bee species across the planet, but only 4,000 of them are species native to the United States. Native pollinators are the primary pollinator for most agricultural crops in the country including cranberries, blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, and squash.

      Source: USGS 

      • There are about 320 different varieties of honey, which vary in color, odor and flavor. (MayoClinic)
      • On average, honey is about 80% sugar. (USDA)
      • One observational study, including over 4,500 people over 40 associated a moderate honey intake with a lower risk of high blood pressure among women. (pubMed)
      • Honey has been shown to help sperm production and ED in young men. (PubMed)

       

      BeeKeeper Facts

      • California is the best state to be a beekeeper. (LawnLove).
      • North Dakota is the most profitable state to be a beekeeper. (LawnLove).
      • Varroa Mites are the biggest stressor for beekeepers in 2023/2024. (Cornell).
      • Research has determined that these two factors (varroa mites and disease) are likely the most contributing agents leading to colony collapse disorder (CCD). (okstate).
      • The US Added over 1 million honey bee colonies from 2019 to 2024 (Deseret).
      • In 2022, California, Texas, and Florida are home to 55% of the nation's honey bee colonies (USAFacts).
      • Commercial honey bee colonies fell by more than 30% from 1989 to 2008 (USAFacts).
      • Since 2007, 28.7% of beehives do not survive the winter months. However, in 2014-2015, that number dropped to 23.1% (Environmental Protection Agency).
      • Between April 1, 2023 and April 1, 2024, managed honey bee populations (backyard and commercial) reported a loss of 55.1% of their managed honey bee colonies. This is the highest reported loss since 2010-2011. (Apiary Inspectors)
      • Roughly 40% of Honey Production is from Backyard Beekeepers where as the other 60% are from the commercial beekeeping industry. (Agmrc)
      • In 2022, the national average price paid to honey producers was $3 per pound. (Agmrc)

      How Many Beekeepers Are In The United States?

      As of 2024, there are anywhere from 115,000 to 125,000 beekeepers in the United States. This accounts for both backyard hobbyist beekeepers and commercial beekeepers. (Agmrc)

      Conclusion

      That’s it for my list of Bee statistics.

      As someone who does Beekeeping for a living, I really enjoyed putting this list of stats together.

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