I start teaching Principles of Microeconomics of Agricultural Economics tomorrow. To stay relevant/cutting edge/hip/cool/dope/rad/off-the-hook I'm collecting current event examples to supplement my thrilling textbook lectures. Here's one I may use for positive and negative externalities:
The decline in the US bee population, first observed in 2006, is continuing, a phenomenon that still baffles researchers and beekeepers.
Data from the US Department of Agriculture show a 29 percent drop in beehives in 2009, following a 36 percent decline in 2008 and a 32 percent fall in 2007.
This affects not only honey production but around 15 billion dollars worth of crops that depend on bees for pollination.
Scientists call the phenomenon "colony collapse disorder" that has led to the disappearance of millions of adult bees and beehives and occurred elsewhere in the world including in Europe.
Researchers have looked at viruses, parasites, insecticides, malnutrition and other environmental factors but have been unable to pinpoint a specific cause for the population decline.
The rough winter in many parts of the United States will likely accentuate the problem, says Jeff Pettis, lead researcher at Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.
Winter figures will be published in April. But preliminary estimates already indicate losses of 30 to 50 percent, said David Mendes, president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
"There are a lot of beekeepers who are in trouble" he said.
"Under normal condition you have 10 percent winter losses.. this year there are 30, 40 to 50 percent losses."
He said the phenomenon probably results from a combination of factors but that the increased use of pesticides appears to be a major cause.
