Ethiopia is known as one of the world's most important beekeeping areas due to its favorable environmental conditions for growing diverse natural vegetation and cultivated crops. However, the country faces several challenges, including the need for standardized management practices, a lack of technical skills, and bee colonies absconding for unknown reasons. These challenges have hindered the sector's production and productivity. The study aimed to investigate the effects of beehive shade and feed supplementation on honeybee colony productivity in two different Ethiopian agroecologies: the midland region of Bako and the highland area of Gedo. Bako is located at 9° 10' 148" N, 37° 04' 374" E, and Gedo is situated at 9° 01' 504" N, 37° 26' 109" E. This study used 80 honeybee colonies at both locations. These colonies were divided into four groups with varying techniques of management at each site: Group A provided both a hive shed and dearth period feed, Group B provided a hive shed but no dearth period feed, Group C provided dearth period feed but no hive shed, and Group D provided neither a hive shed nor dearth period feeding. The findings revealed that colonies under treatment A showed significantly more brood and pollen combs compared to treatments B, C, and D at both study sites. The difference in brood production ranged from 340.91% for Bako during March-May to 380.95% for Gedo during September-November. Additionally, colonies in treatment A reared 145.78% to 162.03% more brood during dearth periods (December-February and June-August) than colonies in treatment D. The overall differences in pollen Storage between treatment A and D for Bako and Gedo were 239.0% and 272.4%, respectively. The study also found significant differences in absconding rates among the treatment groups, with Group D having the highest rate (80.0%), while Groups B, C, and A had lower rates (62.5%, 57.5%, and 17.5%), respectively. Moreover, the honey yield per year varied significantly among the groups, with Group A having an average yield of 46.80 kg/colony and Group D averaging only 10.3 kg/colony. The study concluded that the provision of durable beehive shading and supplementary feeding during dearth periods is essential to enhance significantly the productivity of honeybees. Further research is recommended to identify other factors that can affect the productivity of local honeybees.
| Published in | American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13 |
| Page(s) | 93-105 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Honeybee, Beehive Shade, Supplementary Fed, Brood, Absconding, Pollen
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APA Style
Hunde, T. A., Lema, S. D., Iticha, T. N., Hora, K. W., Gemeda, T. K. (2025). The Combined Effects of Beehive Shade and Feed Supplementation on Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Productivity. American Journal of Life Sciences, 13(3), 93-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13
ACS Style
Hunde, T. A.; Lema, S. D.; Iticha, T. N.; Hora, K. W.; Gemeda, T. K. The Combined Effects of Beehive Shade and Feed Supplementation on Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Productivity. Am. J. Life Sci. 2025, 13(3), 93-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13,
author = {Tadele Alemu Hunde and Shimu Debela Lema and Taye Negera Iticha and Kibebew Wakjira Hora and Tolera Kumsa Gemeda},
title = {The Combined Effects of Beehive Shade and Feed Supplementation on Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Productivity
},
journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
volume = {13},
number = {3},
pages = {93-105},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20251303.13},
abstract = {Ethiopia is known as one of the world's most important beekeeping areas due to its favorable environmental conditions for growing diverse natural vegetation and cultivated crops. However, the country faces several challenges, including the need for standardized management practices, a lack of technical skills, and bee colonies absconding for unknown reasons. These challenges have hindered the sector's production and productivity. The study aimed to investigate the effects of beehive shade and feed supplementation on honeybee colony productivity in two different Ethiopian agroecologies: the midland region of Bako and the highland area of Gedo. Bako is located at 9° 10' 148" N, 37° 04' 374" E, and Gedo is situated at 9° 01' 504" N, 37° 26' 109" E. This study used 80 honeybee colonies at both locations. These colonies were divided into four groups with varying techniques of management at each site: Group A provided both a hive shed and dearth period feed, Group B provided a hive shed but no dearth period feed, Group C provided dearth period feed but no hive shed, and Group D provided neither a hive shed nor dearth period feeding. The findings revealed that colonies under treatment A showed significantly more brood and pollen combs compared to treatments B, C, and D at both study sites. The difference in brood production ranged from 340.91% for Bako during March-May to 380.95% for Gedo during September-November. Additionally, colonies in treatment A reared 145.78% to 162.03% more brood during dearth periods (December-February and June-August) than colonies in treatment D. The overall differences in pollen Storage between treatment A and D for Bako and Gedo were 239.0% and 272.4%, respectively. The study also found significant differences in absconding rates among the treatment groups, with Group D having the highest rate (80.0%), while Groups B, C, and A had lower rates (62.5%, 57.5%, and 17.5%), respectively. Moreover, the honey yield per year varied significantly among the groups, with Group A having an average yield of 46.80 kg/colony and Group D averaging only 10.3 kg/colony. The study concluded that the provision of durable beehive shading and supplementary feeding during dearth periods is essential to enhance significantly the productivity of honeybees. Further research is recommended to identify other factors that can affect the productivity of local honeybees.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Combined Effects of Beehive Shade and Feed Supplementation on Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Productivity AU - Tadele Alemu Hunde AU - Shimu Debela Lema AU - Taye Negera Iticha AU - Kibebew Wakjira Hora AU - Tolera Kumsa Gemeda Y1 - 2025/06/30 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13 T2 - American Journal of Life Sciences JF - American Journal of Life Sciences JO - American Journal of Life Sciences SP - 93 EP - 105 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5737 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251303.13 AB - Ethiopia is known as one of the world's most important beekeeping areas due to its favorable environmental conditions for growing diverse natural vegetation and cultivated crops. However, the country faces several challenges, including the need for standardized management practices, a lack of technical skills, and bee colonies absconding for unknown reasons. These challenges have hindered the sector's production and productivity. The study aimed to investigate the effects of beehive shade and feed supplementation on honeybee colony productivity in two different Ethiopian agroecologies: the midland region of Bako and the highland area of Gedo. Bako is located at 9° 10' 148" N, 37° 04' 374" E, and Gedo is situated at 9° 01' 504" N, 37° 26' 109" E. This study used 80 honeybee colonies at both locations. These colonies were divided into four groups with varying techniques of management at each site: Group A provided both a hive shed and dearth period feed, Group B provided a hive shed but no dearth period feed, Group C provided dearth period feed but no hive shed, and Group D provided neither a hive shed nor dearth period feeding. The findings revealed that colonies under treatment A showed significantly more brood and pollen combs compared to treatments B, C, and D at both study sites. The difference in brood production ranged from 340.91% for Bako during March-May to 380.95% for Gedo during September-November. Additionally, colonies in treatment A reared 145.78% to 162.03% more brood during dearth periods (December-February and June-August) than colonies in treatment D. The overall differences in pollen Storage between treatment A and D for Bako and Gedo were 239.0% and 272.4%, respectively. The study also found significant differences in absconding rates among the treatment groups, with Group D having the highest rate (80.0%), while Groups B, C, and A had lower rates (62.5%, 57.5%, and 17.5%), respectively. Moreover, the honey yield per year varied significantly among the groups, with Group A having an average yield of 46.80 kg/colony and Group D averaging only 10.3 kg/colony. The study concluded that the provision of durable beehive shading and supplementary feeding during dearth periods is essential to enhance significantly the productivity of honeybees. Further research is recommended to identify other factors that can affect the productivity of local honeybees. VL - 13 IS - 3 ER -
Team of Beekeeping and Genetic Improvement, Holeta Bee Research Center, Holeta, Ethiopia
Team of Beekeeping and Genetic Improvement, Holeta Bee Research Center, Holeta, Ethiopia
Team of Beekeeping and Genetic Improvement, Holeta Bee Research Center, Holeta, Ethiopia
Team of Bee Forage and Pollination Ecology, Holeta Bee Research Center, Holeta, Ethiopia
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