Honey produced per bee colony

Mariah Carey climbing the chart in December. American honey production per colony slipping in May, June, and July. Two seasons in disagreement, two trends in opposite directions, the song doing fine and the bees not so much.

All I Want for Christmas Is You hit Number One on the Hot 100 for the first time in 2019 after streaming-era chart rules let December play resurrect older holiday songs. US honey production per colony has trended down across this window as colony-collapse stresses, varroa mites, and habitat loss reduced average yields, even as colony counts have stabilised. Two unrelated lines sharing a window because the same eleven years rewarded an old song's algorithmic resurrection while quietly punishing the hives. Different ecosystems.

One graph speaks of a streaming win. The other speaks of a slower, sadder loss. Both are real.