Analysis of energy input and output for honey production in Iran (2012-2013)

The objectives of this study were to determine the energy consumption and evaluation of inputs for honey production in Shahrekord city in the Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiary province, Iran to investigate the efficiency of energy consumption and to make an economic analysis of honey production. Data used in this study were obtained from 80 beekeepers using a face to face questionnaire method. The sample bee keepings were selected through a stratified random sampling technique. The following results were obtained at the end of the study: with 54.43% the input of sugar is the highest within the energy equivalences of input used in honey production. This is followed by electricity and transportation with 14.02% and 13.84%, respectively. The total energy inputs, total energy outputs, input-output energy ratio and productivities were 28941.51 MJ hive−1, 15264 MJ hive−1, 0.54 and 0.04, respectively. The results indicated that all of the inputs affected the yield significantly, except electricity. The fuel (2815.5 MJ hive−1) and sugar (15292.2 MJ hive−1) were affected significantly with 0.547 and 0.459 coefficients, respectively. The input-output energy ratio shows that the inputs used in the production of honey are not used efficiently. Extension activities are needed to improve the efficiency of energy consumption in honey production and to employ environmentally friendly agricultural management practices and production methods.