What is the ruling on the zakah of honey if production decreases?

The questioner : ... There is a zakah of one-tenth, as you mentioned. May Allah reward you with good. But you know, honey now involves many expenses. Production may be weak, like the production this year... for all the bees... so the production is very weak. It is permissible for the one-tenth to be, for example, slightly more or less than the normal production. This production, I mean, does not cover the expenses of the profession. Now there are workers, for example, there is purchasing... there is feeding for the bees, there are medicines for the bees. And yet it is said that it is necessary to pay the zakah from this weak production?

The Shaykh : I do not think it is obligatory in this situation. However, the beekeeper should fear Allah the Exalted and Majestic, lest his own desires intervene in the matter and he persist in such a claim and avoid performing the obligation of paying the one-tenth.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : But when the matter is as you mentioned, there is no zakah.

The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of yourself.