Honeybee colony marketing and its implications for queen rearing and beekeeping development in Werieleke district, Northern Ethiopia

Transcription

1 Honeybee colony marketing and its implications for queen rearing and beekeeping development in Werieleke district, Northern Ethiopia By Teweldemedhn Aksum University, Ethiopia

2 Outline 1. Introduction 2. Objectives 3. Methodology 4. Results and discussion 5. Conclusion and recommendations

3 1. Introduction Endowed with diverse agro-ecologies, Ethiopia is highly suitable for beekeeping It has estimated 10m colonies of which ~5 m are domestic (54 k t in 2012) Less exploited ~10% of the potential Mainly due to skill & technological limitations More than 95 % of colonies are managed traditionally Recently, it is being transformed via Introduction of improved equipments, capacity building, financing Pronounced in Tigray Colonies in movable frame hives account for more than 20% of the total (43,548/213,133) (CSA, 2012)

4 e.g. EEP

5 Intr... Efforts are challenged by shortage of bee colonies due to absconding and reduction in swarming (Yigzaw et al., 2010) Colony population is declining: E.g. from 5.15 million in 2009 (CAS, 2009) to 4.99 million in 2011 (CAS, 2012) On the other hand, the demand for honeybee colonies is increasing in association with the interventions Thus, colony multiplication and marketing is becoming an important business for some beekeepers in the semi-arid areas of Northern Ethiopia Nebelet and Maikinetal are the major market places located in Werieleke district of Tigray

6 2. Objective This study was conducted to assess the actors, colonies, constraints and price trends of honeybee colony marketing in...

7 3. Methodology Being the major market places, Nebelet and Maikinetal towns were purposively selected Visits were made to the markets during the weekly market days and repeated throughout the marketing season 4 th week of July to the 1 st week of September (6 days) Personal observation and semi-structured questionnaires were employed

8 Method... Five colony sellers and five purchasers were selected from each market during each data collection day Thus, 120 actors were interviewed Data were collected to characterize actors, the market, colonies and price trends Collected data were summarized & analysed using SAS-JMP5

9 4. Results and discussion

10 Poorly equipped markets Nebelet was verified to be established in the early 1980s but difficult to trace about Maikinetal Both are located nearby main roads of the towns Risky & unsafe for people & animals crossingby They are not given attention by local authorities & experts Translocated several times in favour of other activities Less developed/no services Unlike other markets, no tax is collected

11 Maikinetal colony market center No shed or any other infrastructure except scattered acacia trees

12 Nebelet colony market center No shed or any other infrastructure 4/15/

13 Market actors Include traders, customers, labourers and mediators Colony producers Few beekeepers are taking advantage of the growing business They use splitting and swarming methods to multiply colonies Splitting is practiced by those who own modern hives in Ahferom & Werieleke Most modern hive owners were trained on splitting but they didn t do it due to lack of equipment and inadequate training But few beekeepers split colonies to reproduce for replacement, start-up, sales They split a colony into one queen right and another one or more queenless colonies But splitting into more than one queenless is rare One queen is harvested from each queenless colony regardless of the #pupae developed Queen rearing for replacing old or undesirable queens doesn t exist in the area Via rearing & replacing queens, honey yield can be improved by up to 150% as proved by research in Turkey Traditional beekeepers from Ganta-Afeshum manipulate their bees to swarm They trap swarming colonies, then arrest or clip the wings of the virgin queen This can hinder mating flights, thus the colony will not be productive but abscond

14 ...actors Colony sellers/traders Colony multiplication, hunting & trade have remained male dominated business Comparing the 2 markets, traders in Nebelet were older, experienced in selling and travelled longer distances Mainly beekeepers who multiply their own colonies in the highlands of Ganta-Afeshum and Ahferom districts The bees in the highlands of Tigray are thought to be Apis mellifera monticola (Amsalu et al., 2003) although Meixner et al (2011) stated that the whole of Ethiopia has a single race Traders in Maikinetal were producers and hunters/trappers in equal proportion

15 Sellers Parameters Nebelet (N=30) Maikinetal (N=30) Χ 2, P-Value 1.Sex Male 100 (30) 100(30) Female 0 (0) 0 (0) 2. Age (years) 45.17±6.86 a 34.3±5.40 b P< One way distance (hours) to the market 4.27±1.22 a 3.45±0.95 b P= Number of years participated in selling bees 16.1±5.01 a 8±3.25 b P< Number of colonies sold.colony/day/person 2.47±0.97 a 2.03±0.93 a P= colony/season/person 4.73±1.62 a 4.37±1.38 a P= Proportion of sellers by type Producers 86.67(26) 50 (15) Hunters 0 (0) 50 (15) Traders 13.33(4) 0 (0) Χ , P< /15/

16 ...actors colony purchasers/customers Majority of the purchasers were males who were planning to introduce modern hives for expansion & starting up bee businesses Male colony purchasers accounted for 90% in Nebelet and 93% in Maikinetal Most of the purchased colonies in Nebelet (85%) and Maikinetal (90%) were to be filled in modern frame hives

17 colony purchasers 1. Sex Parameters Market places Χ 2, Nebelet (N=30) Maikinetal (N=30) P-value Male 90 (27) (28) Χ , Female 10 (3) 6.67(2) P= Age (year) 43.07±7.47 b 48.27±6.42 a P= Colonies purchased/person 1.27±0.45 b 1.53±0.51 a P= Type of hive to be used Modern (25) 90 (27) Traditional 16.67(5) 10 (3) 5.Source of modern hive in percentage Χ , P= REST (25) 80 (24) Χ , BOARD 16.67(5) 20 (6) P= Trained yes (23) 73.33(22) Χ , No 23.33(7) 26.67(8) 7. Percentages of purchasers by type Startup 30 (9) (11) Expansion (11) 40 (12) Replacement (10) (7) P= Χ , P= /15/

18 Marketing It is open marketing in which actors negotiate to determine price based on strength & quality Factors considered in price negotiation include: Docility and size of the colony However, many purchasers lacked the capacity to properly evaluate colonies required assistance from knowledgeable people Key risks for: Traders ~ loss of worker bees Purchasers ~ colony without queen, or infertile queen

19 Risks & remedies of customers & traders Category Risk Remedies Customers Queenless colony -Look for presence of brood -Look for queen if caged Quality of queen -Age -Agreement -Bright colour of combs and regularly patterned larva - Fertility/clipped wing -Presence of larva Traders -Aggressive bees Loss /deserting/robbing workers bees -Observation -Isolating away from suspected colonies -Pushing away suspected colonies -Closing bees within their hive

20 The colonies Colonies supplied were nested in traditional hives Made of cow dung Which are either conical or cylindrical in shape The number of colonies in markets varied via the season Lowest in July peaked in 2 nd & 3 rd weeks of Aug in Maikinetal & Nebelet Then, young & poorly established colonies appeared colonies in Nebelet were generally stronger

21 ... colonies Maikinetal market displayed greater diversity A curious and controversial practice of deserting bees existed Illegal act that weakens other bees-therefore, risky for sellers It is also risky for purchasers as it absconds shortly Sale of young queens alone arrested in traditional cages was also observed Queens were not given feed and attendants Whereas in developed countries, queens are sent via postal service in conditioned containers along with attendant bees Queens will be likely to be infertile & unlikely to be mated later as mating flight is restricted to few days of age

22 colonies The number & strength increased until mid Aug, then dicreased Weak strong Weak Worker bee collection & selling queens in Maikinetal 4/15/

23 Transporting colonies Sellers & purchasers transported on foot carrying their colonies due to under developed infrastructure & rugged terrain But experience helped to transport safely although there are some risks heat, comb breakage Colonies were transported by covering sides of the hives with clothes, mesh, dung or sefee Sellers travel early in morning & give rest under shelter to their bees when the sound is increased In Nebelet, sellers support the combs with dried dung to avoid breakage But Maikinetal seems to have lacked this experience

24 Transporting... Practices Sellers Purchasers Χ 2, P (place Nebelet Maikinetal Nebelet Maikinetal Type Interaction) 1. Type of hive lid used Mesh 18(60) 15(50) 13(43.33) 9(30) Χ , = Thick cloth/sack 7(23.33) 9(30) 17(56.67) 21(70) , = , = Dung 3(10) 4(13.33) 0 0 Sefee 2(6.67) 2(6.67) Do you rest the bees Χ , = Yes 23(76.67) 8(26.67) 3(10) 6(20) No 7(23.33) 22(73.33) 27(90) 24(80) , = , = Do you support combs? Χ , = Yes 25(83.33) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) , = , = No 5(16.67) 30(100) 30(100) 30(100) 4/15/

25 4/15/

26 Inter-annual colony price trends Rises in price averaged 11.3% & 13.1 % per year over the period of in Nebelet & Maikinetal, respectively It was 231±25.14 and 125±20.14 in 1999 and grew to 925±41.43 and 596±35.65 in Nebelet & Maikinetal This was in association with other prices, over all purchasing power of ETB, growing demand while the supply is stagnant or declining Similar trends are expected as long as beekeepers are not empowered to produce adequate colonies

27 price (Birr/colony) Inter-annual Nebelet Maikinetal

28 Intra-annual colony price trend Price was increasing from the beginning up to the 2nd week of Aug in Maikinetal and the 3rd week of Aug in Nebelet, then decreased up to the end of the season. These patterns were reflections of quality-demand-supply of colonies Colonies at the beginning of the season were weak due to extended dry period & continued to be stronger until a new pattern came due to appearance of young colonies Supply of colonies at the beginning of the season was limited as the time for multiplication is later Customers were reluctant to purchase colonies at the beginning of the season when the fate of weak colonies and rainfall were unpredictable But they are eager to buy as early as rainfall is predictable because their aim is to have well established colonies before the end of the active season

29 Price(Birr/colony) Intra-annual th week of July 1st week of August 2nd week of August 3rd week of August 4th week of August 1st week of September Maikinetal Nebelet 4/15/

30 5. Conclusion and recommendations Despite of its valuable contributions to beekeeping development, colony marketing is given less attention Challenges such as deserting bees, difficulty in determining presence & quality of queens, damage of bees by heat & comb breakage are faced by the actors Genetic erosion, health concerns & failure to adapt due to agroecological differences can be potential risks of the traditional marketing Hence, empowering beekeepers to multiply colonies locally should be the priority The enabling environment should be improved providing basic services and infrastructures; Establishing legal standards on the quality of colonies and queens Establishing policies on transporting bees Tax collection can be considered to be able to re-invest in the market 4/15/

31 የቀንየለይ=Yekenyeley =Thank you 4/15/