Does Colony Loss Reduce Honey Yields?

While most agricultural goods is marked by increasing productivity, yields of honey measured in pounds produced per colony has fallen 29% since 2000. Throughout this period, both honey bee colony loss rates and pollination service income – the other main source of revenue for beekeepers – have also been high, suggesting a link between poor colony health and the long-distance movement and co-location of colonies in California to service its large and lucrative almond bloom. We use beekeepers survey data from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service to estimate the response of honey yields to changes in the beekeeper’s colony loss rates and the beekeeper’s share of colonies moved to California for almond pollination while controlling for underlying beekeeper productivity differences using lagged and regional average yields as controls. We estimate that, on average, a 1 percentage point increase in the loss rate decreases honey yield by .362 pounds, but smaller beekeepers experience a greater yield reduction for a given loss rate than larger beekeepers. We also estimate that a 10 percentage point increase in beekeeper’s share of colonies moved to California in the almond pollination season decreases yield by 0.8 pounds