Profitability of honey production in Cavite and Laguna / by Janette B. Ambat.

Thesis (B.S.B.M.--Economics) Cavite State University

Includes bibliographical references.

College of Economics, Management, and Development Studies (CEMDS)

AMBAT, JANETTE BAURILE "Profitability of Honey Production in Cavite and Laguna", B.S_ Thesis, Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite. Adviser: Dr. Antonio G. Papa.
A study was conducted in Cavite and Laguna. It aimed to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, describe the management practices employed by the producers, determine the profitability of honey production, compare profits derived by bee raisers from honey production in Cavite and Laguna and identify the problems encountered by the raisers. There were 21 bee raisers in Cavite and Laguna who were interviewed from December 1997 to January 1998. The data gathered where based from the production figures in 1997.
The ages of the respondents ranged from 34 to 63 with an average age of 43 years. Majority of the respondents (67%) were college degree holders. The household size of the respondents ranged from 1 to 6 household members or an average of three members. The average year of experience in managing honeybees was four years. Most of the respondents (81%) owned the business. The number of hired laborers ranged from 1 to 4. Almost half of the respondents did not hire laborers. The total area of land devoted to =honeybee production ranged from 10 to 304 square meters of land with a mean of 117 square meters. The number of colonies ranged from 2 to 300 with a mean of 52 colonies. Majority of the respondents had an initial capital investment ranging from P 4000.00 to ₱ 28.200.00. The average capital investment was P 26,472.00. Bee raisers cultured different strain of bees but the most popularly raised was Apis mellifera (90%). Most of the respondents (81%) considered beekeeping as their additional source of income while 19 percent of them considered it as their main source of income.
Most of the raisers fed the bees twice a week. The volume of feeds used ranged from 1.2 to 36.3 sacks of sugar with a mean of 17 sacks per year. Ninety-five percent of the respondents controlled the pests while 48 percent of them applied swarm control. The best period to harvest honey was March, followed by February and April. Majority of the respondents harvested their product twice a year.
Bee keepers usually market their products in public or city markets which ranked first, followed by at home and at the farm which ranked second and third respectively. Buyers of honey usually paid on cash. This was reported by 67% of the respondents. The best period of marketing the products was during December and August.
The profitability level of honey was categorized as low and high. Low, if profit ranged from P 978.30 to P 3,271.75 per colony and high, if the profit ranged from P 3,271.76 to P 11,083 per colony. Average profit was P 3,802.24.
The average sales of honey per colony in Cavite and Laguna amounted to P 4,937.95 while the average net profit was P 3,202.45. The small apiary raisers of honey attained a net profit per colony of P 3,492.37 while large apiary raisers gained P 1,970.19 per colony per production season.
The number one problem in production was predatory pest followed by unfavorable climatic condition and lack of government support. In marketing, their major problems were lack of permanent outlet followed by rampant sale of fake honey by their competitors and the last was the stiff competition posed against them by foreign producers.

Submitted to the University Library 07/18/2007 T-1852