Beekeeping Production System, Challenges, and Opportunities in Selected Districts of South Wollo Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia

Table 8

Absconding of honeybee colonies in the study areas.

Type of hives absconded	Hive types	Freq.	%
	Traditional	108	81.20
	Transitional	0	0.00
	Frame	12	9.02
	All types	13	9.77
Reason of absconding	Response	%	Rank
Pest attacks (wax moth, ants)	178	28.99	1
Unknown reason	123	20.03	2
Drought	110	17.92	3
Management problem	92	14.98	4
Chemical application	26	4.23	5
Feed shortage	24	3.91	6
Traditional belief (not inspecting at full moon set)	24	3.91	7
Absence of forage	16	2.61	8
Water shortage	12	1.95	9
Predators	9	1.47	10
Control measure of absconding	Response	%	Rank
Frequent inspection	114	21.80	1
No control	102	19.50	2
Feeding and watering	92	17.59	3
Pest control	58	11.09	4
Cleaning site	57	10.90	5
Cut old combs	24	4.59	6
Ash dusting	21	4.02	7
Intensive management	18	3.44	8
Timing of inspection (traditional belief)	16	3.06	9
Smoking	10	1.91	10
Leave honey on harvest	6	1.15	11
Plastering hive with cow dung	5	0.96	12