Abstract
The beekeeping sector encountered numerous challenges it is affected by administrative and environmental factors hence this study was conducted pursue to evaluate these factors using descriptive statistical design through honey flow, The sample included 55 beekeepers from several Iraqi governorates The data collected through a structured field survey that included information on demographic beekeepers characteristics, apiary management practices, environmental and health factors affecting colonies in addition productivity indicators, data were analyzed using SPSS software based on descriptive statistics one-way ANOVA at significance level of (P ≤ 0.05). The results shows a significant effect of year experience on average honey production more than 10 recorded highest average production 12.5 Kg/hive compared to 9.7 for those with 5-10 years and 7.2 Kg/hive for less experienced beekeepers, high productivity associated with increase hive number reaching 13.4 Kg/hive in apiary 100 hives compared to 10.8 and 8.5 Kg/hive in medium and small apiaries respectively, decline of bee blooming plants led to decrease production 9.0 Kg/hive compared to 12.2 Kg/hive in locations that didn’t witnessed a vegetative degradation, pesticides was also associated to higher bee mortality rate of 35.6% compared to 18.9% in unaffected apiaries. Colonies infected with Varroa destructor and Nosema spp. Also has dropped in production to 8.3 and 9.1 Kg/hive, respectively, compared with 12.6 in healthy colonies. These results indicated that honey production is affected by the interaction of many factors, such as administrative environmental, and health factors, highlighting of improving apiary management practices, enhancing beekeeper training programs, and boosting nectar resources to ensure the sustainability of honey production.