Pesticides Use, Practice and Its Effect on Honeybee in Ethiopia: A Review

Abstract

Honeybees play an essential economic role in the pollination of crops. Farmers were buying, storing, and use pesticides on cultivated plants with no or little consideration of the effect on honeybees. In Ethiopia, pesticide poisoning of honeybees has increased from time to time, and beekeepers also lose their colonies due to unwise use and improper practice of pesticides. Ethiopia has developed a legal framework on pesticide registration, distribution, and use. But regulations are not strictly implemented by the farmers, and it needs enforcement. Farmers use pesticides on crops with no or little consideration on the effect of honeybees, and the use of pesticides harmful to pollination service, behavior, communication, forage resource, poisoning, and contaminated hive products. Effective communication between beekeepers and crop growers while spraying is required to minimize the impact of pesticides on honeybees. Research should focus on the effects of pesticide use on honeybees and the means of reducing its impact.