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Optimal Control Strategies for Beekeepers: Managing Mite Infestations in Honeybee Colonies

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  • Yeh, D. Adeline
  • Fan, Xiaoli
  • Walsh, Elizabeth

Abstract

Honeybee pollination services are essential to U.S. specialty crop production, yet maintaining colony health has become increasingly challenging due to Varroa mite infestations and rising miticide resistance. We develop a long-term bioeconomic model that characterizes a commercial beekeeper’s optimal management strategy while endogenizing the evolution of miticide resistance. Preliminary results indicate that miticide resistance reduces a beekeeper’s lifetime economic value by roughly 19%, and it generates additional social welfare losses that could be mitigated through coordinated policy intervention. This framework advances the economics of pollination markets and pest management by quantifying the private and social costs of resistance. The findings inform ongoing discussions about optimal beekeeper management, the welfare implications of resistance dynamics, and the potential economic benefits of adopting Varroa-resistant honeybee stocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Yeh, D. Adeline & Fan, Xiaoli & Walsh, Elizabeth, 2026. "Optimal Control Strategies for Beekeepers: Managing Mite Infestations in Honeybee Colonies," 2026 Annual Meeting, July 26 - 28, 2026, Kansas City, Missouri 404745, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea26:404745
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.404745
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    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/404745/files/177672_191811_115232_2026AAEA_BeeMite_Draft_Final.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Narjes, Manuel Ernesto & Lippert, Christian, 2019. "The Optimal Supply of Crop Pollination and Honey From Wild and Managed Bees: An Analytical Framework for Diverse Socio-Economic and Ecological Settings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 278-290.
    2. Hyunok Lee & Daniel A Sumner & Antoine Champetier, 2019. "Pollination Markets and the Coupled Futures of Almonds and Honey Bees: Simulating Impacts of Shifts in Demands and Costs," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(1), pages 230-249.
    3. Yeh, D. Adeline & Brown, Christina Estela & Goodrich, Brittney K., 2025. "Buzzing Toward Sustainability: Protecting Pollinators to Strengthen Specialty Crop Production," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(4).
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