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The Bee Pollinators

Profits earned from bee pollination markets help prevent bee populations from declining as a result of Colony Collapse Disorder

  • Holly Fretwell,
  • Kristen Byrne,
  • Randy Rucker
  • Environmental Concern

    Is our food supply at risk due to rising honeybee mortality rates? Honeybees are pollinators that assist in the production of an estimated one-third of the food that we eat in the U.S. In the winter of 2006/2007 bee colonies across the nation began to collapse from a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD caused winter honeybee mortality rates of 30 to 40 percent; that is about twice the normal rate of annual loss. While the causes of CCD remain unclear, there is concern about future honeybee populations.

    Market Solution

    CCD is a real problem but well-functioning markets have prevented it from impacting food supply. Privately owned honeybees are used to pollinate most commercial crops. Crop owners pay beekeepers to temporarily relocate hives to enhance pollination, and thus crop production. If honeybee production declined as a result of CCD, the price of pollination services would be expected to rise. Beekeepers, however, prepare for potential CCD losses by raising more bees. In fact, there has been little economic impact from CCD losses. The numbers of honeybees and hives have remained fairly constant since CCD hit. Furthermore, honey production has not declined and the price of pollination services has remained stable for most crops.

    Pollination is an active market where beekeepers and crop growers negotiate and both parties gain from trade. Every February about 70 percent of the privately-owned beehives in the U.S. are trucked to California to pollinate almonds. After almond pollination, the bees are transported to other regions to pollinate cherries, cranberries, melons, squash, and other crops. Beekeeping is not an easy business but the potential profits from pollination services motivate beekeepers to maintain supply.

    Download the supplemental learning guide (PDF).

    Written By
    • Holly Fretwell
      Holly Fretwell
      • Research Fellow

      Holly Fretwell is a research fellow at PERC, where for more than two decades she has researched public land policy, property rights, and markets.

    • Kristen Byrne

      Kristen Byrne is a former media and marketing manager at PERC. As media and marketing manager, Byrne translated and marketed academic research to students, policymakers, and journalists by adapting and packaging PERC’s stories.

    • Randy Rucker
      • Senior Fellow
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