Winnipeg, (MarketsFarm) – Cool and wet summer conditions caused Canadian honey production to drop to its lowest level in seven years in 2019, according to a report from Statistics Canada.

At 80.4 million pounds, production of the sweetener was down by 15.4 per cent from the previous year.

Alberta saw the largest drop, with production down 35.0 percent to 25.1 million pounds in the country’s largest honey-producing province. Manitoba and Saskatchewan saw more modest drops of 1.9 per cent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Nationally, the total value of honey sold was down 13.8 percent year over year to C$173.0 million in 2019, its lowest level in three years, according to the report.

The number of beekeepers in Canada fell by 317 from 2018, to 10,344. The number of bee colonies in Canada was down 2.1 percent from a year earlier to 773,182 in 2019.

While honey production was down on the year, the country’s maple syrup production hit its highest level on record due to a combination of higher yields and more taps, according to a separate Statistics Canada report. The country produced 13.2 million gallons of maple syrup in 2019, which was up by 34.8 percent from the previous year. Quebec accounts for the majority of Canada’s maple syrup production.

The value of all maple products sold increased 34.2 percent on the year to C$517.5 million.