Peter said:
It appears that there is a trend of decreasing honey prices at present.

In the U.S. a FLOOD of cheap foreign honey has entered the wholesale market
driving down prices.

Peter said:
 From a Canadian point of view - it seems a little strange as the crop for
2004 is again reduced when compared to previous years.

Your competition is not from U.S. honey but foreign. Packers are simply
buying the water white foreign honey on the world market.

Peter asks:
What is happening in other producing/exporting areas.

Many U.S. packers are simply saying they are not buying honey now. Others
are tossing out low prices. Store prices remain high even as many packers
are using low price foreign  honey. Which is good for the small U.S.
beekeeper selling in stores.

All the packers I have talked to say they will not be the first to lower
store  prices so perhaps store prices will remain high for awhile but  we
all know the packer with the low shelf price sells the most honey. Whether
he makes the most money is debatable!

The market for U.S. local honey and specialty honey remain strong in the
U.S. Those packer labels with "product of many foreign countries" helps the
smaller beekeeper/packer!

A large amount of the 2004 U.S. crop remains unsold as beekeepers say the
price will go up after the first of the year. I hope for their sake they are
right but suspect the opposite. I have seen those beekeepers turn down
prices they only dreamed about a few years ago waiting for a higher price. I
am buying supplemental  honey myself now and will continue to buy honey
until my next crop comes in so I speak from experience.

Bob

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