Socio-Economic Profile and Training Needs of Beekeepers in Samastipur District of Bihar

Honey has offered great promise to some of the most under nourished areas of the word. Bee benefit, the plants not only increasing their yield, but also improve crop quality since beekeeping does not compete for inputs with other farming or crop, it is an ideal programme for integration. Keeping the importance of beekeeping a study was undertaken to find out the socio-economic and psychological profile and training needs of beekeepers. The study highlighted that majority of the respondents belonged to middle to young age group, medium to high level of family education, socioeconomic status, innovativeness and risk bearing capacity. The results also showed that majority of respondents had low to medium level of extension contact and size of land holding, respectively. In respect to training needs of beekeepers in different areas, it was found highest in protection of bee pests, diseases and other hazards followed by the business of bees, beehive products and their extraction, processing and medicinal values, management of bee colonies during different seasons and essential operations.