Heatwaves depress French honey harvest this year
Apiculture organisations expect less honey, but differ sharply over the scale of the decline.
France’s honey harvest is likely to be lower this year after heatwaves dried out flowers and vegetation. However, two industry organisations have arrived at widely differing estimates because the harvest has not yet been fully completed.
The Union nationale de l’apiculture française estimates 2026 production at 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes. That is lower than the 23,000 to 25,000 tonnes the organisation reported for 2025, when the harvest was the largest in about twenty years.
InterApi, France’s interprofessional organisation for the beekeeping sector, gives a much higher estimate of around 33,700 tonnes. According to the organisation, that estimate is based on a survey of 986 beekeepers and is about 5,000 tonnes below last year’s level.
The figures are therefore not directly comparable. The two organisations use different data sources, and the 2026 harvest is not yet fully in. Both do, however, point to the same pattern: spring began favourably, but periods of extreme heat from late May harmed important summer flowering.
For bees, drought means more than just fewer flowers. Nectar production and the availability of water can also decline. As a result, colonies fly out less and the period during which beekeepers can collect honey becomes shorter.
The French honey sector consists of professional beekeepers, people who keep bees alongside other work and many small producers. According to data attributed by TV5Monde to the Unaf, family producers account for a substantial share of domestic production, making exact national figures more difficult to establish.
France has produced less honey than it consumes for years and therefore remains dependent on imports. The new figures are not a definitive climate measurement, but they are a concrete signal from agriculture that more erratic weather can affect the yield of a crop.
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The text clearly distinguishes between two industry estimates and a definitive measurement. The figures and causes mentioned can be found in the sources used.
- confirmed The Unaf estimates French honey production in 2026 at 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes. — Reported by TV5Monde on the basis of AFP. source
- confirmed InterApi estimates the harvest at around 33,700 tonnes. — The estimate and survey of 986 beekeepers are mentioned in the same AFP report. source
- confirmed Periods of heat from late May harmed several summer flowerings. — Attributed to InterApi in the AFP report. source
Editor's note
The causes and the differing estimates have been publicly documented. Final French production for 2026 has not yet been established.Sources
- Récolte de miel 2026 : des abeilles déboussolées par la sécheresse — TV5MONDE, op basis van AFP
- Bilan de campagne miel — FranceAgriMer
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „frankrijk honing”
- NOS — „frankrijk honing”
- Het Parool — „frankrijk honing”