ABSTRACT

Beekeeping as a Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) under the Modified Taungya System (MTS) is under exploited. Information on the types of tree plantation and wood hives suitable for its productivity is scarce. This study addressed this knowledge gap by setting up different bee wood hives under three monoculture plantation stands of Tectona grandis Linn, Cedrela odorata L. and Terminalia superba Engl. in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve of Ghana. The experiment was laid using factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated 3 times. The study revealed that plantations of Tectona grandis, Cedrela odorata and Terminalia superba were all suitable for honey production even though Cedrela odorata produced the lowest honey yield. The most significant factor that affected honey production was the type of wood used to construct the bee hive. Cedrela odorata wood hives were not suitable for beekeeping since none was colonized. However, Tectona grandis wood hives yielded the highest honey, bee wax and propolis of 57.81 kg/harvest, 6.44 kg/harvest, 2.30 kg/harvest respectively. Also, Tectona grandis wood hives generated a profit of US$ 443.48/harvest compared to US$ 201.17/harvest for Terminalia superba wood hives. Tree plantations under MTS can be added value through bee keeping. Incorporating beekeeping in plantations could bring other unintended benefits such as farmer's preparedness to protect the plantations from fires which is a major threat to plantation establishment.

摘要

在改良的 Taungya 系统 (MTS) 下，作为非木材林产品 (NTFP) 的养蜂业正在开发中。关于适合其生产力的人工林和木蜂箱类型的信息很少。本研究通过在Tectona grandis Linn、Cedrela odorata L.和 Terminalia superba Engl三个单一种植林下设置不同的蜂木蜂箱来解决这一知识差距。在加纳的塔诺奥芬森林保护区。实验采用随机完全区组设计 (RCBD) 中的因子进行，重复 3 次。研究表明，尽管Cedrela odorata种植园的Tectona grandis、Cedrela odorata 和 Terminalia superba都适合生产蜂蜜蜂蜜产量最低。影响蜂蜜生产的最重要因素是用于建造蜂巢的木材类型。Cedrela odorata木蜂房不适合养蜂，因为没有一个蜂房被殖民。然而，Tectona grandis木蜂箱的蜂蜜、蜂蜡和蜂胶产量最高，分别为 57.81 公斤/收获、6.44 公斤/收获、2.30 公斤/收获。此外，Tectona grandis木材蜂箱产生的利润为 443.48 美元/收获，而榄仁树的利润为 201.17 美元/收获木荨麻疹。MTS 下的人工林可以通过养蜂来增加价值。将养蜂业纳入种植园可能会带来其他意想不到的好处，例如农民做好了保护种植园免受火灾的准备，火灾是种植园建设的主要威胁。