Temperament of Ethiopian honeybees

Information on the relative defensive behavior variations of Ethiopian bees and factors associated with temperament variation is not available. The objective of this study was to identify the temperament conditions of these honeybee populations. Two hundred forty farmer beekeepers from 57 localities were interviewed based on pre-structured questionnaire to determine aggressive behavior of Ethiopian honeybees, seasons and factors responsible for heightening their aggressiveness. The aggression rate of Ethiopian honeybee groups were determined for 3001 honeybee colonies and analyzed using Kruskal-wallis ANOVA. The aggressiveness varies among honeybee groups. Apis mellifera jemenitica honeybees are highly aggressive while Apis mellifera monticolla honeybees are relatively docile. The seasons of the year in which aggressiveness enhanced also vary both within and between honeybee groups depending on climatic conditions of their respective areas. The aggression generally heightens when nectar and pollen are abundantly available which is associated with honey flow and harvest and brooding periods. Attacks of enemies are also found the primary factor enhancing the aggression behavior across all honeybee groups. Aggression rate is significant and positively correlated with temperature and negatively with altitude. Generally lowland and southern region honeybees are more aggressive than highlands and northern region honeybees.