Freakonomics Radio

How do beekeepers make a living? Why is there so much honey fraud? And why did billions of bees suddenly disappear? To find out, guest host Steve Levitt activates his hive mind.   SOURCES: Alex Sapoznik, historian, reader in late medieval history at King’s College London. Chris Hiatt, past president of the American Honey Producers Association, owner of Hiatt Honey Company. Michael Roberts, founding executive director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at U.C.L.A. Law School. Walter "Wally" Thurman, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at North Carolina State University.   RESOURCES: "U.S. honey is increasingly supplied through imports," by David Olsen (USDA Economic Research Service, 2018). "Economic Effects and Responses to Changes in Honey Bee Health," by Peyton Ferrier, Randal Rucker, Walter Thurman, and Michael Burgett (USDA Economic Research Service, 2018). "The Fable of the Bees: An Economic Investigation," by Steven Cheung (The Journal of Law and Ec