The commercial stingless beekeeping industry has good economic growth potential in Malaysia, which is a tropical country rich in flora that serves as food sources for stingless bees. Local consumption of honey is increasing and its production locally can be raised to meet the demand by sustainable stingless beekeeping. An important indicator that measures the success of the industry is the economic efficiency of the farm. This study hence examined the cost efficiency (CE), technical efficiency (TE), and allocative efficiency (AE) of commercial stingless beekeeping farms in the East Coast and Northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia using Cost Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) under the assumption of Constant Return to Scale (CRS). Interviews with 47 respondents in the East Coast region and 28 respondents in the Northern region showed that the average CE scores for the two regions were 0.291 and 0.172, respectively. TE for the East Coast region and Northern region were 0.656 and 0.385 while mean AE scores of 0.445 and 0.404 were obtained. Factors that influenced the efficiency of the farms included farmers’ years of schooling and extension officer visits. In conclusion, CE, TE, and AE of commercial stingless bee honey production in Peninsular Malaysia were fairly low, and the determinants responsible for this low efficiency is of concern. Economic efficiency in stingless beekeeping needs to be further elevated to optimise productivity.

The Stingless beekeeping project, a relatively new industry in Malaysia, has a huge economic potential because the production of stingless bee honey is low but the demand for this type of honey is slightly higher. This study was developed to measure the technical efficiency of commercial stingless beekeeping farms in Peninsular Malaysia by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Ninety-two respondents were selected using clustered random sampling and they were personally interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that the average technical efficiency was at 75%, with a minimum of 21% and a maximum of 100%. However, 25% of the farms were found to be fully efficient. The output slacks were 24.7, revealing that the bee farms produced honey with a shortfall in outputs. Labour hours indicated the highest input slacks which was 457. Mean slack for farm size indicated that the farms should be reduced by 0.58 acre while for the total number of colonies, the value of slack indicated that beekeepers should reduce it by one colony. Determinants of inefficiency results indicated that bee flowers and agricultural extension were significant. In conclusion, the technical efficiency of commercial stingless bee honey production in Peninsular Malaysia is high, but efficiency and inefficiency factors should be of concern to improve the value of technical efficiency.