The main practices, challenges and opportunities of honey production and marketing in workawotu, District, North wollo, Ethiopia.

Abstract

This study assessed honey production and marketing in Workawotu of Gidan woreda, North Wollo, Ethiopia in 2018/2019. Data from 47 household beekeepers out of 90 who engaged in apiculture were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The results showed that most beekeepers placed their colonies in the backyard (72.3%) or eaves of the house (27.7%) and harvested honey twice a year in September-November and May-April. Swarming was the main reproduction mechanism that increased the colony number and occurred mostly in September-November (72%). Three types of production systems were identified: traditional, transitional and modern. The traditional production system was the most common, but had low productivity due to drought, predators and poor management. The main predators were bee-eater birds and honey badgers. Agro-chemicals and diseases were not major problems. The transitional and modern production systems had higher productivity but were less distributed. They also provided supplementary feeds like "Besso" and "Shiro" during the dearth periods from December to February and March to May. The marketing chain was weak due to low infrastructure and quality. The study also provided important recommendations to improve honey production and marketing in the study area.