Socio-economic and technical characteristics of beekeeping in the departments of Bamboutos, MiFi and Menoua in Western Cameroon

摘要

Socio-economicandtechnicalcharacteristicsof113beekeepersselectedrandomlyinthreedivisions(Bamboutos,Mifi,Menoua)oftheSudanoWesternregionofCameroon.Inaddition,30samplesofhoneywereanalysedfortheircolors.Theprincipalresultswereasfollow:beekeepingismostlydonebymenagedbetween50-60years(79.6).Manyofthemaremarried(88.5)andinchargeofmorethan5personsintheirhousehold.95.6ofthebeekeepersareliterate.Someofthemhavenotreceivedapropertrainingbuthavebeenexercisingformorethan15years.Only13.3ofbeekeepersconsideredtheactivityarefull-timejob.Thenumberofhivesvariesfrom1to101andmore,withanaverageof40hivesperbeekeeper.Thefixedandmobilehivesarethecommonlyused.Thehivesaremainlyinstalledthroughouttheyear(54.0).Thebaitusedismainlywax(91.2).Therateofnon-colonisedhivesisrelativelyhigh(29.0).Anumberofbeekeepershavenoessentialequipment(protectingclothe(38.9)andsmoker(41.6))anddonotcarryoutregularmonitoringofapiary.Apartfromhoney,wax,propolis,pollenandroyaljellyproductsarealsoharvested.Theaverageamountofhoneyproductionis4to7literspercolony.Honeyiskeptwithinthecomborstoredinafilteredform.Samplesofhoneycollectedwerelightamber.Theestimatedannualgainfromhoneyproductionrangedfrom16nbsp;000to16875andfrom28nbsp;125to28625FCFAperhive,forfixedandmobilehivesrespectively.Constraintstobeekeepingaresocio-economic(financialproblems),technical(lackorinadequacyoftheframework)andpathological(insects).Themajorityofbeekeeperswouldliketocontinuetheactivityandwishtoimproveandincreasethesizeoftheapiarydespisetheseconstraints.