A cross‐sectional study design was conducted across agroecological zones in East Shewa and West Arsi Zones of Oromia, Ethiopia, from September 2020 to November 2021 to identify the types, prevalence, and potential risk factors associated with honeybee diseases, pests, and predators. Purposive sampling involved interviewing 115 households and analyzing 80 samples via laboratory diagnosis. Data were coded and stored in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and then analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, a rank index formula, and chi‐square ( χ 2 ) tests in SPSS Version 16. The results revealed that ants were the most common pests observed in honeybee colonies (27.4%), followed by wax moths (21.9%), honey badgers (14.4%), bee‐eater birds (10.8%), small hive beetles (8.9%), lizards (6.6%), spiders (4.9%), death’s head hawkmoths (3.2%), and wasps (1.6%). Annual absconding rates reached 60.4% in Dodola, 64.5% in Wando, 70.8% in Adami Tulu, and 84% in Dugda. Laboratory analyses confirmed high positivity for amoebiasis (82.5%), varroosis (83.8%), nosemosis (43.8%), small hive beetles (33.8%), and bee lice (33.8%), with no detections of American foulbrood, European foulbrood, chalkbrood, stonebrood, and tracheal mites. These threats severely impact honey production, emphasizing the need for beekeeper vigilance through effective control measures and seasonal colony management to bolster hive resilience.
Beyene et al. (Thu,) studied this question.