Effects of Beehive Types and Forage Species on Honey Production: A Case of Manyoni District, Tanzania.

Juma, Ally (2025) Effects of Beehive Types and Forage Species on Honey Production: A Case of Manyoni District, Tanzania. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

There has been a strong interest in developing approach to maximize honey production in Tanzania. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of beehive type and to assess forage species on honey production in Manyoni district of Tanzania. A total of 100 beekeepers and 6 key informants were purposively selected from two beekeeping management site namely Mwamagembe Village Land Forest Reserve and Aghondi National Bee Reserve. Structured interviews and field observations were used as main methods for social economic data collection. In addition, systematic sampling design was applied to collect forest inventory data. Collected data was subjected to statistical analysis using Microsoft excels spreadsheet. Findings identified two types of hives in the study area, namely: Modern (top bar) hive (74.7%) and traditional (bark) hive (25.3%). The average honey productivity of modern hive in Aghondi National Bee Reserve and traditional hives in Mwamagembe Village Land Forest Reserve was 6.4 kg per year and 2.9 kg per year respectively. For the same vegetation, average honey productivity was 4.21 kg per year for modern hive and 2.9 kg per year for traditional hive. A total of 48 species with 16 plant families in Aghondi National Bee Reserve and 65 species with 23 plant families in Mwamagembe Village Land Forest Reserve were identified to be foraged by bees. Adequate knowledge of hive type identification and bee flora plays an important role in honey production system. To increase honey production, the focus should be on the adoption of modern hive technology, sustainability of bee flora and bark hives deterrence. Key Words: Honey, Beehives, Miombo Woodland, Itigi Thickets

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