Abstract

Introduction: Beekeeping as an economic activity, while preventing the degradation of pastures and forests in developing countries, has many opportunities for improving the livelihoods of small farmers by engaging them in this work (Masuku 2013; Jaafar-Furo 2014). Despite the expected important role of beekeeping in improving the livelihoods of farmers, jobs related to bees generally, have a low income (Mirmohammad Sadeghi et al. 2007). Several factors such as climate, vegetation (Golchin and Jalali 2013; Karimi et al. 2009) and human factors (management and knowledge) affect the performance of beekeepers. If production in the agricultural and livestock sectors is due to three major sources of land, labor and capital, without the factor of management it is incidental to produce. The returns of both physical and economic factors generally depend on the managers skill in the combination of resources in an appropriate and efficient manner (Nuthall 2006; Daneshvar Khaki 2010). It should be emphasized that although the beekeeper has no control over environmental and climatic factors, an empowered beekeeper can make the most use of climate and environmental conditions by making appropriate decisions. Therefore, there is a need for planning to improve the performance and productivity of this activity, and this involves understanding the production status of beekeepers and their actions. According to the Agricultural Jihad Organization of the West Azerbaijan province in 2013, average honey production per colony (yield), was 19.3 kg in the province, while average production was reported in Osnavieh region equals 6.6 kg. Distribution of yield among beekeepers in the region was also significant. The range of yield varies from 3 kilograms to 40 kilograms per hive unit (Abdi, personal communications 2014). Therefore, the main issue of the present research was why, despite the almost similar conditions in the region, there is a meaningful difference between beekeepers? Therefore, the present study assumes that some of these differences are attributable to beekeepers breeding practices. In this regard, different activities of beekeepers, as a result of their knowledge and management skills, effect on the performance of their apiary. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different activities of beekeepers on apiary yield. Material and methods: This research work was conducted in Oshnavieh region in the district of West Azerbaijan province, Iran. The target groups were the beekeepers which their numbers are estimated to be 218 households. Cochranes sampling formula was adopted to get the appropriate sample size for this research, which involved 115 of beekeepers. Samples selected through randomized sampling method. Information related to honybee production system was recorded by interviewing the farmers in their farm unit, using a structured questionnaire (research tool). The questionnaire included several sections. The dependent variable was the performance of the apiary in 2015 and in this research, income per hive was used to measure the yield. The data obtained were managed, collected and analyzed using Excel and SPSS₂₀. The descriptive analysis was used to describe the sampled population in the study. The correlation test was used to describe the relationship between variables and multiple linear regressions was used to explore the effective variables on the yield of beekeepers. Results and discussion: the results showed that all beekeepers were male and most of them (95.7%) were married. The average age of beekeepers was 40 years; most of them (40%) were in the age group of 29 to 41 years old. Most respondents (83.5%) live in the village and among respondents, 105 were heads of household. 99 beekeepers were trained in beekeeping. Based on the results of this research, beekeeping was the main occupation of 74.8% of the respondents and the remaining 25.2% were occupied by beekeeping as the second occupation. The average number of hives in the apiary was 218 hive, and 70% of beekeepers had less than 250 hives. Average sugar consumption per hive was 17.35 kg. More than 92% of beekeepers migrate their honey colonies, with a mean distance of 357 km. The results showed that almost all beekeepers use beekeeping clothing (hats, gloves, clothing, etc) and bee brush, but in contrast, a small number of beekeepers use artificial insemination and bee venom collector. Results showed that beekeepers had 40 different activities related to the production system. Average income per hive was about 1950000 rails. Correlation analysis revealed that education and actions of beekeepers e.g. Considering standard space of hive placement, migration (movement), considering health issues, removing sick hives from the field had positive significant correlation with farm yield (P<0.05), but there were negative significant correlation between farm yield with variables e.g. Age, years of experience and queen replacement frequency (P<0.05). Regression analysis revealed that explained 40 percent of farm yield. Conclusion: The result of regression analysis showed that two variables including the amount of sugar feeding and second migration distance is determining 39.8% of the farm yield variance.