The Journal of Law and Economics paper on the honey subsidy program that Rucker and Mary Booth wrote. Are those subsidies still in place? They were killed and now the agricultural subsidy has shifted to crop insurance subsidies. So there still is honey subsidy. It's not large and absolutely even relative terms. I breathe a sigh of relief. That's a few. Thank goodness.
Wally Thurman of North Carolina State University and PERC talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the world of bees, beekeepers, and the market for pollination. Thurman describes how farmers hire beekeepers to pollinate their crops and how that market keeps improving crop yields and producing honey. Thurman then discusses how beekeepers have responded to Colony Collapse Disorder--a not fully understood phenomenon where colonies disband, dramatically reducing the number of bees. The discussion closes with the history of bee pollination as an example of a reciprocal externality and how Coase's insight helps understand how the pollination market works.