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Asian Journal of Agricultural Research

Year: 2016 | Volume: 10 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 87-98
Research Article

Current Status of Beekeeping in the Arabian Countries and Urgent Needs for its Development Inferred from a Socio-economic Analysis

Ahmad A. Al-Ghamdi
Baqshan`s Chair for Bee Research, Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed M. Alsharhi
Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Thamar University, Yemen
Hossam F. Abou-Shaara
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, P.O. Box 22516, Damanhour, Egypt
Beekeeping is a dynamic activity and is impacted by many factors. A comprehensive survey was done from September, 2013 to April, 2015 to understand the current status of beekeeping in the Arabian countries and to identify the urgent needs for beekeeping development. Modern social communication means were utilized to perform the survey. Total of 138 respondents had participated in the study from 14 Arabian countries. Most of the respondents were with age from 31-45 years old (42.8% of the total). The most of them were also with high educational level with B.Sc. or higher degree (81.2% of the total) and 58.7% of them were with experience less than 10 years in beekeeping. The majority of the respondents preferred the indigenous bee races over the imported ones and 51.4% of them were only honey producers. The incorrect management of bee colonies was considered by the majority of the respondents as the most important factor behind death of the bee colonies. It could be concluded that planned training programs on beekeeping are highly required. The roles of the extension agencies are very essential to prepare suitable training programs for beekeepers. The use of the indigenous bee races in beekeeping should be supported. Effective laws and legislations to prevent honey adulteration and organize honey marketing issues are recommended to be done. Information about beekeeping in many Arabian countries are not available. Therefore, the results of this study can be considered as a baseline for any future investigations.
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