Structure, production and constraints of honey hunting and traditional beekeeping activities in patigi, Kwara state, Nigeria
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Date
2015
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Publisher
Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Honey has continued to play an important role in
nutrition and medicine; it is an ingredient in many herbal
remedies and a crucial component of the bride price for
many tribes in Nigeria. Several methods and structures
including traditional, modern beekeeping, and age long
honey hunting are employed to obtain honey for its several
uses. This study aims to study honey bee farming structure;
production capacity and constraints faced by both honey
hunters and traditional beekeepers. A proportional random
sample size of 190 bee honey farmers comprising of 110
bee honey hunters and 80 traditional beekeepers were used
for the study. Data were collected through structured
questionnaire and direct participation. The results of the
study indicated that about 53% and 70% of the honey
hunters and traditional beekeepers were within 20-30 years
and 31-40 years of age respectively. The result also
revealed that 86.3% of honey hunters and 87.5% of
beekeepers employed smoking as mean of honey harvest.
Further, 4.7litres, 4.8litres, 5.8lites and 6.2litres of honey
were harvested from tree cavities, colonies on tree
branches, woven grasses and calabashes respectively.
Provision of necessary modern beekeeping tools, training,
and credit facilities could minimize constraints faced by bee
farmers and improve their welfare.