In 2014, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined honey bees to be livestock. This determination then made honey bee colony losses eligible for indemnity (government money to replace lost livestock) if the honey bees were lost due to disease or natural disaster. Under this same decree, the USDA made funds available for honey bee habitat improvement. 

Having said that… Beekeeping is an amazing hobby. Please realize that there are folks who do beekeeping commercially (almond growers, for example) and make a living from it. However, the majority of beekeepers in the USA are backyard hobbyist.

I am talking about beekeeping as a hobby.  Read here for some interesting honey industry facts as reported by the National Honey Board.

Read the statistics for the 2016 Honey Crop here. This report was published by Bee Culture on 24 April 2017. Bee Culture and the American Bee Journal are two of the most important magazines dedicated to honey bee keeping.