Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine the economic potential of beekeeping in Plateau state. Simple random sampling technique was used to select two (2) Local Government Areas (Jos North and Jos South) Forty-eight (48) structured questionnaires were purposively administered to each Local Government Area to elicit information from respondents giving a total of ninety-six (96) respondents. Data collected among others include the socio-economic characteristics of respondents, number and location of beehives owned by the beekeepers, amount of honey harvested from each hive, annual expenditure and income from beekeeping and problems associated with beekeeping in the study areas. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, mean, percentages, bar charts and pie charts. Chi-square was used to find out if there was any significant difference between income from bee keeping and educational level of beekeepers while One-way variance statistics was also employed to find out if the different methods of beekeeping had effect on the quantity of honey harvested. Results indicated that (88%) of the beekeepers were males. Most of them (38%) had tertiary education as their highest qualification and had between 1-5 years beekeeping experience. The results of Chi-square analysis showed that educational level of beekeepers has no significant effects on income from beekeeping. The results of one way analysis of variance on the best keeping method for more honey yield indicates that the different beekeeping methods considered (traditional hives and Top-bar hives) have no significant effect on honey yield,