Honey production down in France for 2026 after a scorching summer

This is a new illustration of the damage caused by the scorching and dry summer. Honey production is expected to decline, according to estimates from the two main beekeepers' organizations. They diverge on volumes but agree on one point: French bees will produce less than in 2025. These are still estimates because bees are still "working": the honey season begins in March with rosemary in the South and ends in November with arbutus in Corsica.

But the harvest is expected to decline with 20,000 tonnes in 2026 according to the National Union of French Apiculture, which represents professional and amateur beekeepers. Interapi, the honey inter-professional association, for its part, mentions some 33,000 tonnes. The two organizations, each with its own estimate, are counting on 5,000 tonnes less than in 2025, due to heatwaves during which bees no longer forage.

The heat waves then burned the flowers and dried out the vegetation. For example, there will be no sunflower honey in 2026. Rapeseed and spring flowers will, however, save this season which will remain in memory and imports will thus intensify since national production does not cover our needs anyway. France consumes 40,000 tonnes of honey each year.