States in Numbers / America in real numbers🏠

Where do America's bees spend New Year's? 🐝

1Guess
Which states host the most honey bee hives on January 1? Tap them most-to-least.

Tapping assigns 1→4 in order

I bet… North Dakota — the honey champ!
2Answer
The real order is…
    California hosts about 3× as many hives as #2 Florida!
    📚 Background On January 1, California holds close to a million hives — about 3× Florida. Why? Beekeepers from all over America truck their bees to California each winter, ready to pollinate the almond bloom in February. (The honey-making crown is a different race — that one belongs to North Dakota. See the honey quiz!) (USDA NASS Quick Stats)
    🔍 Explore more: 🐝『The great bee road trip』→
    I bet… North Dakota — the honey champ!
    3Compare
    Bee colonies (hives), Jan 1, 2024
    🇺🇸 United States (national)2,669,350 colonies (hives)
    California #1 940,000 colonies (hives)
    Most: California (940,000 colonies (hives)); least shown here: South Dakota (68,000 colonies (hives)).

    Note: measured in colonies (hives) on January 1 — summer counts look different!. Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.

    Where things grow has a reason!
    4Recap
    🏅 Today's discovery
    🏅 California is the USA's #1!
    🐕 States in Numbers
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    Quiz a friend!

    🔗 More quizzes

    Which state leads in bell peppers? 🫑 →Which state has the most babies? 👶 →Which state leads in cabbage? 🥬 →Which state leads in grapefruit? 🍈 →
    See all quizzes →

    : Jan 1, 2024
    USDA NASS Quick Stats: HONEY, BEE COLONIES - INVENTORY, MEASURED IN COLONIES, 2024, by state (2026-07-12) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
    ↳ In Quick Stats, pick HONEY / BEE COLONIES INVENTORY, year 2024 (first of Jan), and compare states.