Abstract—The enigma climate change is no longer an illusion but a reality. In the recent years, the Nigeria climate has changed and the changes are shown by the changing patterns of rainfall, the sunshine, increasing level carbon and nitrous emission as well as deforestation. This study analyzed the behavioural response of bee keepers to variations in the climate and the adaptation techniques developed in response to the climate variation. Beekeeping is a viable economic activity for the alleviation of poverty as the products include honey, wax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, venom, queens, bees and their larvae and are all marketable. The study adopted the multistage sampling technique to select 120 beekeepers from the five states of Southeast Nigeria. Well-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were adopted to collect the required data. Statistical tools like the Principal component analysis, data envelopment models, graphs, and charts were used for the data analysis. Changing patterns of rainfall and sunshine with the increasing rate of deforestation had a negative effect on the habitat of the bees. The bee keepers have adopted the Kenya Top bar and Langstroth hives and they establish the bee hives on fallow farmland close to the cultivated communal farms with more flowering crops. Keywords—Climate, smart, smallholder, farmer, socioeconomic, response. I. INTRODUCTION EEKEEPING is an act of rearing bees for the aim of harnessing its numerous potentials for income and livelihood activity. These potentials include honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly, venom and a very crucial aspect of crop pollination [1]. About 10% of the bee products in the region are gotten from the modern beekeeping, 30% from traditional beekeepers and the 60% are from the wild [2]. Local hives made from clay are hung on trees with baiting to draw swarms from wild honeybees, as practiced in some villages such as Nsukka, Obudu, Ijabu, Tiv. The indigenous regarded bee in Nigeria as tropical African honeybee is Apis mellifera adansonii [2]. Beekeeping has been described as competitive for on-farm integration because of its low startup cost, less labour requirement, user friendly technology and large scale dependency on tradition beekeeping technology. The dependency on traditional beekeeping techniques implies the huge impact of weather conditions on the beehives with the attendant consequences of climate change. Changing patterns Prof. Jude Anayochukwu Mbanasor is Head, Department of Agribusiness and Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria (e-mail: mbanasor.jude@mouau.edu.ng). Dr. Chigozirim Ndubuisi Onwusiribe is Lecturer, Department of Agribusiness and Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria. of rainfall and increasing lengths of draught has left the South East geopolitical zone bee farmers vulnerable to the challenges of flooding and increasing temperature in some parts of the region. The dangers of climate change are worsened by the increasing level of deforestation, as most honey products are gotten from the wild and the bees need trees and plants for honey production [6]. II. METHODOLOGY South East, Nigeria comprises of five states, namely; Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States [10]. Southeast Nigeria is located within latitudes 6° 27' 10" (6.4528°) north, and longitude 7° 30' 37" (7.5103°) east [8]. Southeast Nigeria is a region of Nigeria that has borders with Cameroon in the East and the Atlantic Ocean to the south [12], [13]. The region is made of five states, namely Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. Two states were randomly selected for the study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in the selection of sample. The respondents compose of beekeepers in the state. In the first stage, two agricultural zones were chosen from each of the selected states. The second stage involved the random selection of two Local Government Areas (LGAs) from each of the selected agricultural zones. In the third stage, two communities from each of the selected LGAs were randomly selected. In the fourth stage, two villages known for beekeeping were purposively selected from each of the selected communities. However, in order to ensure representative sample selection, a pre-survey sampling frame was determined by compiling lists of beekeepers in the selected 32 villages. The lists were collected from the selected LGAs, village heads and the related associations in beekeeping in the area. From these lists, four producers (2 males and 2 females) were purposively selected, making a total of 128 beekeepers. But, eight of the beekeepers selected were not willing to respond to the survey or discuss with field officers. Well, structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were adopted to collect the required data. A. Method of Data Analysis Data were analysed using Principal Component Analysis, Multinomial Logit, graphs, and charts were used for the data analysis. In order to estimate the determinants of the beekeepers choice of beekeeping technique the following multinomial logit model was adopted: Jude A. Mbanasor, Chigozirim N. Onwusiribe Behavioral Response of Bee Farmers to Climate Change in South East, Nigeria B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Vol:14, No:8, 2020 90 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 14(8) 2020 ISNI:0000000091950263 Open Science Index, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Vol:14, No:8, 2020 publications.waset.org/10011392/pdf