ASSESSMENT OF IMPROVED BEEKEEPING PRACTICES AND EFFECT OF NUTRITIONAL INTERVENTION ON BROOD DEVELOPMENT AND HONEY YIELD IN HARAMAYA DISTRICT, EAST HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of honeybee colonies kept in frame hives under farmers' management conditions and the effect of supplementary feeding on brood development and honey yield in Haramaya District, East Eararghe Zone, Ethiopia from (9-4- 2024 to 31-5- 2024). Both Questionnaire survey and experimental research methods were conducted. A total of 57 beekeepers were purposively selected and participated in the interview based on, who acquired bee colonies and framed beehives from Haramaya University, through different research programs and those who practice beekeeping using modern beehives. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, focal group discussions, and field observation were used for data collection. For the experimental research, 20 bee colonies were purposively selected to ensure uniformity in colony strength, and brood frames before the experiment and then assigned into 4 treatment groups using a complete randomized design (CRD), with five replicates each. The treatments included energy supplements, protein supplements, a combination of both (energy and protein), and an unfed (control) group. Feed was provided inside the hives. The sealed brood area was measured every 15 days during the experiment, and honey yield was harvested after feeding the experimental bee colonies. According to the respondents, the mean honey yield obtained from traditional and modern bee hives in the study areas was 4.74 and 18.11 kg/colony/year. The study also highlighted that beekeepers first ranked the wax moth as the main pest in the study areas, followed by ants, bee lice, beetles, spiders, lizards, birds, wasps, and honey badgers, respectively. On the other hand, lack of bee forage also ranked first by beekeepers as the main factor causing a decrease in bee colonies and honey yields, followed by pests/ predators, absconding, diseases, pesticides/herbicides, lack of improved beekeeping skills, and lack of credit, respectively. Over half of the beekeepers (63.2%) were fed their bee colonies, while smaller percentages (36.8%) did not. The experimental investigation study found significant differences (p=0.0001) in all measured parameters among the treatments. The result showed that energy-supplemented feed had the highest consumption rate of 95.5% per colony from the given feed, followed by a combination of energy and protein (93.4%) and protein (88.4%), respectively. The result also indicated that the highest mean sealed brood area (338.17 cm2 per colony) and honey yield (13.78 kg per colony) were observed in honeybee colonies fed with a combination of (energy and protein) supplement feed, followed by protein, and energy supplement feed, respectively. In comparison, the least amount of mean sealed brood area (113.76 cm2 per colony) and honey yield (4.16 kg per colony) were noticed in the control group (unfed). This research recommended that combining high energy with crude protein feed sources positively impacts on brood development and honey yield.