The Dynamics of Pollination Markets

The economic problem of a commercial beekeeper is akin to that of a traveling salesman with the important difference that bees simultaneously pollinate crops and feed on them. In other words, bees not only provide pollination services but also feed on the crops they visit. As a result, the number and price of bees available for pollination at any time for any crop is determined by the demand for pollination services and the supply of bee food from other crops in the market. I develop a dynamic model of yearly fluctuations in the stock of honey bees and combine it with an economic model of beekeeper's behavior. This dynamic model of bee population highlights the fact that they are a renewable resource whose economic value is derived from both extraction and the provision of pollination services. Losses of hives to parasitic mites and other pests have a greater impact on the pollination cost of crops that blossom early. The effect of honey subsidies on pollination fees is ambiguous theoretically, which challenges previous results from the economics literature on pollination markets.pollination, beekeeping, pollination markets, bee population dynamics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q57,

Measuring the Importance of Pollination Externalities in Agriculture

Crop Production/Industries,

A Spatial Look at Negative Externalities in Agricultural Landscapes: Seedless Mandarins and Honey Bee Pollination in California

When honey bees transport pollen across citrus orchards they can increase the number of seeds in varieties that remain seedless otherwise. An increase in seeds diminishes the market value of the fruit creating an externality between seedless growers and beekeepers. This paper investigates the efficiency of different policy resolution of this externality including a range of regulated spatial segregations of beekeeping and seedless farming with or without financial compensations. We develop a spatial model of honey foraging behavior to quantify the efficiencies and redistributions of different policies that may be used to correct this market failure. Some of these policies have been implemented others are being currently discussed in policy debates in the California citrus belt. This paper illustrates that quantifying biophysical processes that create externalities is a necessary step towards evaluating the economics efficiency of alternative solutions.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The foraging economics of honey bees in almonds

We develop a model of honey bee foraging behavior that can be used to simulate crop yields as functions of honey bee densities. These yield functions help us understand the economic behavior of growers who rely on bees for pollination. One important simulation result for the case of almonds is that the production function facing growers is close to one of fixed proportion in pollination input. Accordingly, the modeling of the foraging behavior of bees provides an explanation for the observed lack of variation in pollinator use and shows how the behavior of bees and growers are connected.pollination economics, honey bee foraging, bioeconomics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Could Information About Honey Fraud Increase Consumers’ Valuation of Domestic Honey in the Face of Rising Honey Imports in the U.S. and EU?

The consumption of honey, which has been sought out by humans for use as food and medicine for thousands of years, has been increasing in recent decades with rising incomes and attention paid to food choices and health. In two decades, honey consumption in the U.S. has risen from 1.2 pound per capita per year to 1.9 in 2021. In the European Union, per capita consumption rose from 1.5 to 2.1 pounds per capita over the same period. While this might appear to be a boon for U.S. and EU beekeepers, honey is a heavily traded product, and imports from large producers such as Argentina, China, Brazil, or India have captured much of the demand growth on U.S. and European honey markets. The two regions are now the two largest importers of honey globally, with 20% of all traded honey going to the U.S. and 40% to the EU, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s trade data for 2015-2020. The figures below show that imported quantities have grown to surpass domestic production in both regions. In the United States, from where exports are small, over 60% of honey available for consumption is imported. Trade and production figures in value terms confirm the growing presence of imports in the two markets but also reflect the fact that imports are more often used in manufactured products and fetch lower prices than domestic honeys on average. International trade increases the variety of products available and lowers the prices for consumer products. However, for certain food items, including honey, consumers face a risk that imported products have been purposefully adulterated—predominantly with low-cost alternative sweeteners—and/or mislabeled

The foraging economics of honey bees in almonds

We develop a model of honey bee foraging behavior that can be used to simulate crop yields as functions of honey bee densities. These yield functions help us understand the economic behavior of growers who rely on bees for pollination. One important simulation result for the case of almonds is that the production function facing growers is close to one of fixed proportion in pollination input. Accordingly, the modeling of the foraging behavior of bees provides an explanation for the observed lack of variation in pollinator use and shows how the behavior of bees and growers are connected

The Dynamics of Pollination Markets

The economic problem of a commercial beekeeper is akin to that of a traveling salesman with the important difference that bees simultaneously pollinate crops and feed on them. In other words, bees not only provide pollination services but also feed on the crops they visit. As a result, the number and price of bees available for pollination at any time for any crop is determined by the demand for pollination services and the supply of bee food from other crops in the market. I develop a dynamic model of yearly fluctuations in the stock of honey bees and combine it with an economic model of beekeeper's behavior. This dynamic model of bee population highlights the fact that they are a renewable resource whose economic value is derived from both extraction and the provision of pollination services. Losses of hives to parasitic mites and other pests have a greater impact on the pollination cost of crops that blossom early. The effect of honey subsidies on pollination fees is ambiguous theoretically, which challenges previous results from the economics literature on pollination markets

Economics of the supply functions for pollination and honey: Marginal costs and supply elasticity

We report new data and estimates of beekeeper costs and revenues, which include data on each activity undertaken by honey producers and pollinators, including labor, transport costs and materials for pest and disease management. We use these data, recent surveys and USDA NASS information to develop and characterize supply functions for (1) pollination services to crops that bloom in the late winter (dominated by almonds) and (2) pollination services to crops that bloom in the spring, and (3) U.S.-produced honey. The positions and shapes of these supply functions are crucial to understanding how the honeybee industry will respond to changes in demand for pollination services, and other market conditions, including shifts in honey import supply, and forage availability affected by climate change