An exploration of honeybees’ threats in Tanzania: Implication for conservation

Abstract

Pollinators, including honeybees, contribute significantly to livelihood improvement as well as socio-economic and environmental conservation, a fact that is globally undisputed. However, their survival is not guaranteed due to increasing rate of habitat degradation. This review intends to harmonize the uneven understanding of honeybees’ threats and their sources in Tanzania so as to develop their conservation plans and strategies. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Model was adopted in selection of relevant literature. The Metadata was analyzed using Aggregative Synthesis Approach (ASA) and coded based on the content analysis of the related honeybees’ threats. The review found that pesticide use, counterfeiting and inadequate knowledge and skills among farmers on pesticide application and management were major threats to honeybees. Additionally, insufficient knowledge among beekeepers on apiary management was identified as another key threat. Other threats include continuous use of traditional beekeeping technologies, invasive pests and predators, climate variability, and a lack of coordinated effort across sectors on forest conservation. These findings emphasize the need for more efforts and studies to update and mitigate the impacts caused by the aforementioned honeybees’ threats for sustainable conservation of honeybees in Tanzania.