The U.S. Government has supported the price of honey at between 60 and 90 percent of parity since 1952 to provide market price stability to honey producers and encourage maintenance of sufficient bee populations for pollination. Colony numbers have stabilized between 4.1 and 4.3 million since 1970. With honey support prices well above the average domestic wholesale price since 1981, domestic honey producers and packers have imported lower priced honey for domestic use and have sold domestically produced honey to the Government. The Government acquired about 115 million pounds of 1983 crop honey at an estimated $71.5 million and will incur additional costs to process and dispose of the honey.