The study examined the involvement of beekeepers in beekeeping management practices in Osun State and described the beekeepers’ demographic characteristics, as well as the constraints associated with beekeeping management practices among others. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 240 respondents from the three Osun state agricultural development program zones “OSSADEP” namely Iwo, Ife-Ijesa and Osogbo. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results of the analysis indicated that 60.4% of the respondents were male while 39.6% were female. About 76.3% were married, 18.8% were single. The average household size was 5.9 ± 1.8 persons. The average annual income from beekeeping was N 113,928 ± N 78,825 respectively. Baiting to catch swarms ranked highest practice with 2.9 weighted mean score while absconding of bees, honey pilfering, vandalism of beehives ranked high as major challenges. A significant relationship was observed between income from beekeeping and the farmers’ level of involvement in beekeeping management practice (r = 0.362; p ? 0.05). It was recommended that the least involved management practices by beekeepers should be enhanced with research, and beekeepers should be exposed to developmental training in order to improve production and empower their livelihood. This could also be achieved if government and non-governmental organizations at all levels develop interest in beekeeping.

Keywords: Honey, Beekeeping, Colony multiplication, Labeling and packaging.