Abstract:
The socio-economic use & challenges of honey production were undertaken using 140 beekeeping
households to identify major constraints and potentials of honey bee production practices in Tach
Armachiho district of Ethiopia. The households were drawn from different locations and represented
two agro-ecologies; Kolla (lowland) and Weyina Dega (midland). For household survey, semi structured interviews, questionnaire and field observations were used as a main tool for data
collection method. The survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Beekeeping is dominantly practiced
by male households in Kolla (95%) and Weyna Dega (96.7%) of the study area. About 67.9 % of the
interviewed households were illiterate. In the study area, honey production was practices by three
types of beehives namely: traditional, transitional and movable frame hive. About 88.3% of bee
hives owned by the beekeepers was traditional hives, while the remaining 11.7 % of hives were
movable frame bee hives. The main source of bee colony for beekeepers was swarm catching. The
overall mean beehive colony holding per household was 9.10 ± 7.77. The average colony holding
(10.15 ± 8.91) of Weyna Dega households was significantly (p< 0.001) higher than Kolla (9.63 ±
5.83). Similarly, Weyna Dega respondents had the highest mean honey production of 66 kg per year
per household than Kolla (60 kg /year/HH). The average productivity of traditional and movable
frame beehives in 2010 was 7.95., and 22.35 kg per year, respectively. The overall average annual
gross income of the studied respondents from beekeeping was Birr 2620.70 /household (Birr
320/colony/year). The major constraints to exploit the untapped potential of beekeeping activity in
the district were lack/shortage of beekeeping equipment, incidence of pests and predators,
agrochemical poisoning, lack of attention, poor extension service and lack of knowledge on
appropriate methods of beekeeping. Therefore, the results suggest that beekeeping development
efforts should be focused primarily in Weyna Dega area and secondarily in Kolla part of the district.
Practical oriented training on improved beekeeping practices should be given for the farmers and
development agents to curve management and quality related issues. There is a need to enhance
extension services in the area and also credit provision need to be facilitated to supply improved
bee-hives and accessory equipment.
