Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center, Zeway, Ethiopia

  The study was conducted in three districts of Oromia Regional State with the objective to assess the reasons of honeybee colony mobility. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the districts that represent the three agro-ecologies of the region. A total of 120 beekeepers were selected and individually interviewed using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire.Key informant interviews and Focus group discussion were used to support interpretation of the interview data. The survey data were performed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). Simple descriptive statistics were employed in order to have a summary description of the data. The study finding revealed that the mean age of the beekeepers was 46.54 years. The beekeepers had an average experience of 5.76 years where male respondents 89.2% take the largest share to be engaged in beekeeping activities. Beekeeping sector of the area is constrained by pests and predators 16.9%, shortage of bee forage 12.8%, shortage of water 10.4%, unwise application of agrochemicals 9.3%, recurrent drought and deforestation(8.1%), poor hive management 7.4%, high cost of honeybee equipments and accessories 7%, honeybee colony absconding or migration 6.2%, shortage of colony 6.1%, lack of knowledge 5.7%, poor extension services 5.2% and inadequate of business support services 4.9%. The result further revealed that the main causes of colony absconding were pests and predators, shortage of forages, poor hive manipulation, indiscriminate application of agrochemicals, shortage of water, bad weather condition, in appropriate honey harvesting technique were the most prominent and significant causes of colony absconding in the area with responses of 21.2%, 18.4%, 16.3%, 13.9%, 11.9%, 8.1% and 5.4% respectively. Colony absconds had been a major problem confronting beekeepers which had led to total loss or reduction in production of honey and other honeybee products. Thus, to benefit beekeepers from the sector, due attention should be given to solve these constraints.