BEEKEEPING ACTIVITES AND PROBLEMS IN ADANA
Mustafa GÜNEŞDOĞDU1, İsmail Yaşhan BULUŞ1, Ethem AKYOL2, Murat DURMUŞ3
1Department of Animal Production And Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Mus Alparslan
Unıversity, Mus, Turkey.
2Department of Animal Production And Technology Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and
Technologies, Omer Halisdemir University, Nigde, Turkey.
3Depertment of Animal Sciences of Agricultural Faculty, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey.
ABSTRACT
The present study was carried out to examine the structure of beekeeping in Adana province, to characterize the beekeeping system, to determine the opinions, complaints and problems of beekeepers and colonies and to determine the satisfaction of the drugs and medicines used by beekeepers in the fight against this mite. The research was conducted on 169 the beekeepers located in Adana. A questionnaire was administrated to collect various information about beekeepers. According to the findings, 99.4% of respondents were male and averagely 47.77 years old. In some of the districts where beekeeping was intensively done, 58.5% of beekeepers were primary school graduates. The average of beekeeping experience and colony number was 19.22 years and 293.21respectively. Adana province is a very important region in terms of beekeeping due to its climate characteristics, its geographical structure and being rich in plants suitable for beekeeping. Findings of the present study revealed that the bee products produced in Adana province were not very different from other provinces in terms of diversity. Indeed, the bee production characterized by a low productivity is concentrated on honey. The most important reasons for the low yield were: a breeding problem, inadequate queen bee rearing, the majority of beekeepers do not have enough knowledge and experience on colony management, and with the wide application traditional production methods.
Key words: Adana, Beekeeping, Problems, Apis mellifera, Apis mellifera
INTRODUCTION
Honeybee (Apis mellifera L., Insecta: Hymenoptera) is a scientifically important model organism in terms of social division of labor, learning and memory studies. In addition, it ensures the continuity of both industrial agriculture and wild flora by pollinating a significant portion of flowering plants. Honey bee is the pollinator of approximately 85% of wild and cultivated plants. The contribution of bees to crop production and diversity is about 15 times higher than the economic value of the products they produce (Köseoğlu et al. 2008). Therefore, it is understood the importance and contribution of honeybee and beekeeping to biodiversity in nature (Tunca, 2009). Adana is a region with great beekeeping potential due to the mild winter season and rich vegetation in spring. The studies to be carried out for
province has 3% share in terms of honey bee colony presence and 10% share in terms of honey production (Table 2).
Turkey due to its geographic location has a different climate types and three different phytogeography regions. Therefore, it is advantageous in terms of beekeeping (Kekeçoğlu at al., 2007; Tunca, 2009).When the current biodiversity consideration, apiculture productivity in Turkey is expected to be high (Table 1). However, considering the general structure and production capacities of Apiculture, it is seen that the existing potential of the country cannot be used effectively. Although there was an increase in the number of hives and the support given by the related institutions per hive, the increase in the amount of product did not reach the same level. Adequate development in Apiculture will be possible only by determining the profile of these enterprises separately. Honey bees, which have a very important place in human life, have studies to be done in order to preserve and sustain their generation. With this study, we aim to contribute to beekeeping.
Table 1. Hive numbers, honey and honey wax production in Turkey (Anonymous, 2018) Beekeeping Data
Years
Bee Hive Honey Honey Yield Bee Wax
N Tones Kg/Hive Tones
2002 4.160.892 74.554 18 3.448 2003 4.288.583 69.540 16 3.130 2004 4.399.725 73.929 17 3.471 2005 4.590.013 82.336 18 4.178 2006 4.851.683 83.842 17 3.484 2007 4.825.596 73.935 15 3.837 2008 4.888.961 81.346 17 4.539 2009 5.339.224 82.003 15 4.385 2010 6.602.699 81.115 15 4.148 2011 6.011.332 94.245 16 4.235 2012 6.348.009 89.162 14 4.222 2013 6.641.348 94.694 14 4.241 2014 7.060.937 102.486 14 4.024 2015 7.748.287 108.128 14 4.756 2016 7.900.364 105.727 13.4 4.440 2017 7.991.072 114.471 14.3 4.488
Table 2. Beekeeping data in Adana province (Anonymous, 2018
Province Apiculture (N) Bee Hives (N) Honey (Tones)
Adana 2236 454.768 10.941,224
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research was conducted the province of Adana through the visit of 169 selected bee farms. A questionnaire was designed to gather various primary data including: socio- demographic information (gender, age, education level, district of residence, experience), technical information number of colonies, problems encountered in migratory beekeeping, period of queen bee change, productivity of bee products, sales and marketing strategies, bee diseases and damage, type of drugs and methods treatment.
Since this survey was performed for a research purpose to improve beekeeping in the area, the consent of participant was obtained before collecting the information.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Gender of Beekeepers Surveyed
The results indicated that only 1 (0.59%) of the 169 beekeepers surveyed in Adana province was women and the other 168 (99.41%) were men. However, this data should not mean that women are not interested in beekeeping. Indeed, in bee farms, women participate to all production activities including bee management, harvesting of honey and migration of colonies. Further, they have as much technical knowledge and experience as men.
Age Range of Beekeepers Surveyed
Averagely surveyed beekeepers were 47.77. Most of beekeepers were between 40-49 years old while, only were young between 20-29 years old. All these data show that beekeeping is not a preferred profession among young people (Fig. 1).
P er son ( N ) 60 50 40 30 20 10 7 0 4,14 32 18,93 52 48 30,77 28,4 30 17,75
20-29 age 30-39 age 40-49 age 50-59 age >60 Person(N) Per(%)
Fig.1. Age Range of Beekeepers Graduate Grade of Beekeepers
The majority of beekeepers (58.58%) attended primary school (Fig. 2). The level of knowledge of beekeepers is insufficient and prevents the development of beekeeping.
120 99 100 80 60 40 20 0 Primary School Graduate 25 Secondary School Graduate 35 High-School Graduate Graduate Grade 10 University Graduate 0 Analphabetic
Fig.2. Graduate Grade of Beekeepers Years of Experience in Beekeeping
experience of surveyed beekeepers is 19.22 years (Table 3). Standing on these findings, it can be concluded that people have high experience in technical beekeeping.
Table 3: Years of Experience in Beekeeping Years of Experience in
Beekeeping
Adana Province
Beekeepers (N) Percentage of Beekeepers
(%) 0-9 37 21.89 10-19 52 30.77 20-29 47 27.81 30≤- 33 19.53 Total 169 100.00
The Adequacy of State Support to Apiculture
According to the survey, 94% of beekeepers stated that the governmental support was insufficient for beekeeping while for 6% of them it was sufficient (Fig. 3).
Sufficient Insufficient 6%
94%
Fig.3. Satisfaction of governmental support of Beekeepers Factors Influencing Choice of Profession
For the most of beekeepers, the main factor in their choice of profession was family-run business (Fig. 4).
71 5 P er son (N ) 80 70 60 50 54 49 40 30 20 10 0 Family-Run Business Other Beekeepers Beekeeping Course Wonderingly
Fig.4. Factors Influencing Choice of Profession of Beekeeping Problems in Migratory Beekeeping
Migratory beekeepers stated that they faces problems to find place for beehives especially in the regions where they wanted to go. In addition, they stated that pesticide poisoning, theft, fire and transportation problems (Fig. 5).
Fig.5: Problems in Migratory Beekeeping
Honey Bee Diseases and Pests Encountered in Colonies
As commercial expectations from honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies increase, the resistance of colonies to diseases decreases. Varroa destructor, one of the most important pathogens in colony health, has spread to different parts of the world. Most of beekeepers
B ee P ests an d Dis eas es Septicaemia 2 Beeswax Moth 2 Chalk Brood 8 Nosema Disease 12
European and American Foul Brood 19
Varroa destructor 148
0 30 60 90 120 150
Person (N) Fig.6: Honey Bee Diseases and Pests Encountered in Colonies
BeeHive Record Keeping
A modern beekeeper needs to assign an ID numbers to each colonies and record technical characteristics such as honey, brood, pollen, queen bee, queen laying, temper, calmness, swarm, death, used drugs, disease and pest. Beehive record keeping will support efforts to increase yields (Kumova, 1988). The majority of beekeepers stated that beehive did not keep records (Fig. 7).
19.53%
80.47%
Recorder
Non-Recorder
Fig.7: BeeHive Record Keeping (%)
CONCLUSION
Adana province is very important for beekeeping. Because it has rich plants suitable for beekeeping due to its climatic characteristics and geographical structure. The findings of the present study showed that the bee products in Adana province were not very different from other provinces in terms of their variety. The production characterized by a low productivity
colonies. The main constraints leading to the low yield included beehive non-record keeping, migratory beekeeping, lack of technical background of beekeepers, disease management.
REFERENCES
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