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APICULTURE AND POLLINATOR INDUSTRY SURVEY IN THAILAND
Abstract
Present study was conducted in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces are the part of this honey zone producing. This zone is the lychee and longan production in-season. Samut Songkhram province is another lychee production zone and Chanthaburi province is longan production zone in off-season. Total 22 beekeepers were selected by using snowball sampling technique. The 11 bee experts, 4 bee researchers, 9 longan and 6 lychee orchard owners were selected as respondents through purposive sampling technique. The collected data were statistically analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings revealed that 4 bee species: European honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica L.), Asian honeybee (A. cerana indica F.), giant honeybee (A. dorsata F.) and stingless bees (Tetragonula pagdeni (Schwarz) and T. laeviceps Smith) used by beekeepers in Thailand. However, the main species in the bee industry is the European honeybee with 300,000 colonies and the farm value of bee products is about 37.7 million USD and honey export value of 17.1 million USD in 2012. The key nectar crops are longan, lychee and Siam weed. The key pollen crops are corn, giant mimosa and sensitive plant. The peak activities of honeybees are within 4 months starting in December to March which coincide with the availability of the 3 main nectar crops. The biggest challenges, according to beekeepers surveyed, are food sources (25.6%) and the Tropilaelaps mite (25.6%). The bee pollination industry is most developed in the northern provinces and there is a potential to develop in other parts of Thailand. The future of apiculture industry in Thailand is still on the rise because the demand of honey and other bee products both at national and international levels is increasing and the volumes of bee products are not sufficient at present
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References
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