Evaluation of the Pollination Ecosystem Service of the Honey Bee ( Apis mellifera ) Based on a Beekeeping Model in Hungary

Aliz Feketéné Ferenczi (), Isván Szűcs and Andrea Bauerné Gáthy
Additional contact information
Aliz Feketéné Ferenczi: Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Applied Economics Studies, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi Str. 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Isván Szűcs: Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Applied Economics Studies, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi Str. 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Andrea Bauerné Gáthy: Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Economics and World Economy, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi Str. 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-14

Abstract: Apiaries must be ecologically and economically sustainable to provide pollination as a unique ecosystem service. Pollination as an ecosystem service is economically, socially, and environmentally irreplaceable. Therefore, it is essential to improve the profitability of beekeeping activities, which are mainly carried out in rural areas. With this in mind, the main objective of this article is to assess pollination as one of the ecosystem services provided by bees, based on the specificities of Hungarian honey production. The authors’ analysis is based on a Hungarian apiary with 300 colonies active in migratory beekeeping. The model farm produces a wide variety of honey thanks to its migratory beekeeping, visiting several bee pastures during the beekeeping season. This paper presents an approach to quantify the ecosystem services provided by honey bees ( Apis mellifera ) using two economic valuation methods (productivity change and surrogate market goods) belonging to the family of cost-based valuation. The results of the monetary valuation of the ecosystem services provided by bees can provide a starting point for further research to help decision-makers and farmers to calculate a fair “pollination fee” for beekeepers, which will significantly help beekeepers to maintain beekeeping, an important and beneficial activity for all of us.

Keywords: honey bees; ecosystem services; productivity changed method; replacement goods/services method; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9906/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9906/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9906-:d:1176254

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().