Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change Effect on Honey Bee Productivity in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

This study aimed at determining the educational requirement of Beekeepers in mitigating Climate Change Effects on bee honey production in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria.  The survey research design was used in achieving this. To adequately and appropriately execute the project three objectives were formulated.  From these objectives, research questions were generated and hypotheses formulated accordingly to guide data gathering and analysis. The instrument for data gathering was a four point close ended questionnaire from which 150 farmers and 50 extension agents were selected to respond to items in the questionnaire using the census approach.  Data collected from their responses were subjected to two forms of descriptive analysis.  The first was percentage descriptive analysis which was used to x-ray the biodata.  Second, mean and standard deviation were used to treat the research questions.  The third method used is the independent t-test on the three man hypothesis of the study.  The result of the analysis warranted the rejection of the three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance with 198 degrees of freedom using 1.96 as the critical t-value. It was found out that ecological practices of farmers contribute to climate change, climate change has impacted negatively on bee honey production, and farmers should be educated through agricultural extension education in order to become conscious of their practices on natural resources and mitigate climate change effects in bee honey production.