COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF MODERN AND TRADITIONAL BEE KEEPING ENTREPRENEURSHIPS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the comparative analyses of modern and traditional bee keeping in Abia State, Nigeria. It considered as objectives the comparative analyses of costs and returns, technical and profit efficiencies and evaluation of the major constraints associated with both bee keeping practices. A sample size of 120 bee keepers comprising 80 modern and 40 traditional bee keepers were examined respectively in this study. The tools of data collection were structured questionnaire and oral interviews. Analytical tools used included Cobb Douglas production function, descriptive statistics and income statement analysis. The result shows that modern bee keeping generates more income than traditional bee farming despite its production cost. Investment in bee keeping, especially with respect to modern bee keeping approach increased tremendously with expanded access to cheap and flexible credit which is presently a limiting factor in traditional bee keeping. Further, man days of labour and quantity of baiting materials increased the production of modern bee keepers while expenses on labour and apiaries limited their profitability even among traditional bee keepers. Thus, it is recommended that the modern bee keepers should be encouraged with financial incentives that will help them boost number of labourers and local policies which will reduce labour cost and other inputs should also be encouraged.

Key words: comparative, analyses, modern, traditional, bee-keeping