Özet:

Beekeeping is a branch of production that may be carried out with other agricultural activities for the rural population, and it is also one of the most significant agricultural activities because of the importance of bee products in human nutrition, their use in the chemistry industry, prospensity for treatment of diseases and the role of bees in increasing the quality of crop production. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of socio-economic factors on the profitability of beekeeping enterprises in the province of Gumushane in Turkey. The relationship between gross profit and some socio-economic characteristics are investigated, and the effects of socio-economic factors on profitability are analyzed by the decision tree method. The Classification and Regression Trees (CRT) algorithm is used to construct the decision tree. The results show that the socio-economic factors affecting the gross profit of beekeepers are non-beekeeping income, production of other bee products except honey, beekeeping experience, number of hives and years of education. Additionally, if the beekeeping is performed as a second source of income and with more experience, more education and working with fewer beehives will produce positive results on profitability. For producers who do not have any other income, other bee products produce more gross margin per hive. Therefore, other bee products besides honey production will increase their profitability. Considering the findings, different socio-economic characteristics should be taken into consideration in performing beekeeping as a profitable production activity.

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