How much cost would artificial pollination add to common products (fruits etc.)?

Question

I've read about ecosystem services and their possible valuation - statements like "honeybee pollination service in the US is worth 1.6 billion dollars". Is data available on how this would affect the cost a consumer pays for a given product? For example if the humans must do all pollination of fruits themselves, how would that affect the retail cost of these fruit?

Answer 1

I don't know that I've seen data, but I suspect hand-pollinated vegetables and fruits would boost prices several-fold. Of course, you could plant beetle-pollinated fruits -- paw paw immediately springs to mind, or fly-pollinated (Chinese jujube, etc.). And, there are other spp. out there than honeybees , but also more expensive to maintain. And possibly also about to be wiped out by neonicotinoids (thank you EPA for O.K.ing indiscriminate use of sulfoxaflor!)

-- Cheers, -- Mr. d.