Honey bee colony population annual dynamics in northern Ethiopia’s semi-arid region, Tigray

High Rates of Honey Bee Colony Losses and Regional Variability in Ethiopia Based on the Standardised COLOSS 2023 Survey

“…We found higher numbers of colonies per beekeeper (apiary) in Spring 2023 in Oromia (mean=30.58) and Tigray (mean=5.24) compared to previously reported average estimates of 6 colonies per beekeeper for Ethiopia [43] and 2 colonies per beekeeper for Tigray [26]. It should be noted that the sampling in this survey was not random, but purposefully included well-known beekeepers and accessible apiaries such as those owned by the Oromia Apicultural Research Institute, due to limitations of logistics, time and funding.…”

“…The proportional loss rate was also significantly higher in Tigray (66.42%) than in Oromia (24.06%). A previous study [26] showed that the colony loss rate in Tigray was lower (at 15.7% overall, and ranging from 9% to 19.5% between local areas) than the results in this survey and was similar when compared to international (overall proportional) loss rate figures of COLOSS reported as 16.4% to 20.9% [3][4][5]. This indicates that most of the colony losses in Tigray reported in the present study can be attributed to the disaster of the two-year war in the region, which agrees with recent reports that the Tigray war caused 70% honey bee colony losses [39] and reversed decades of ecosystem restoration [37,53], agricultural development [54,55] and livelihood improvement [34] efforts.…”

“…A survey conducted during the pre-war period in northern Ethiopia showed that there was no difference in colony loss rates based on the beekeeping system, beekeeping experience, number of colonies per household and local areas within Tigray [26]. This differs from international surveys which have reported that loss rates are significantly affected by scale of beekeeping operations, geographic location and climate, although Ethiopia was not included in these studies [3][4][5][6]20,21].…”

“…In northern Ethiopia, a high rate of annual fluctuation in the numbers of managed honey bee colonies has recently been reported. Colony selling and losses (including absconding, death and seasonal migration) were identified as the reasons of colony outflow in the areas, while purchase, trapping, splitting and swarming are the mechanisms of inflow [26]. Honey bee colonies are also valuable trading commodities in northern Ethiopia where beekeepers exchange colonies in central markets [27].…”

High Rates of Honey Bee Colony Losses and Regional Variability in Ethiopia Based on the Standardised COLOSS 2023 Survey

“…In northern Ethiopia, a high rate of annual fluctuation in the numbers of managed honey bee colonies has recently been reported. Colony selling and losses (including absconding, death and seasonal migration) were identified as the reasons for colony outflow in the areas, while purchase, trapping, splitting and swarming are the mechanisms of inflow [ 26 ]. Honey bee colonies are also valuable trading commodities in northern Ethiopia where beekeepers exchange colonies in central markets [ 27 ].…”