BEEKEEPING IN LALMAI HILL AREAS OF CUMILLA: POTENTALS AND PROBLEMS

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the biology of honey bee diversity and Beekeeping potentials and problems of the Lalmai-Moynamoti Hill area of Cumilla. Data were collected from 200 beekeepers by performing a questionnaire survey, key informant interview, focused group discussion, and case study from November 2018 to May 2020. The findings revealed that there were 98% cultivated Apis mellifera and only 2% explored as wild honeybees. About 93.5% of the farmers stated that beekeeping is profitable whereas other 6.5 % said it is not profitable,76% provided artificial food support to their bee box in the offseason and 22% did not provide any artificial food and 100% of the beekeepers didn’t face any bee disease but 22% beekeepers lost their bees due to poor management and scarcity of food supply during dearth period. The study revealed a piece of astonishing information about the potentials of beekeeping in the terms of yield increment of corps and homestead plants of the farmers due to bee-keeping as most of them acknowledged that they got two to three times more yield of homestead fruit plants and crops after starting beekeeping.