Economic Study of Beekeepers Migration Using Super Efficiency Approach: A Case Study of Roudsar County of Iran

Roudsar County of Guilan province in Iran, due to its ecological conditions and high diversity of plants, has a suitable potential in the field of beekeeping which requires less capital and limited land than other agricultural activities. However, beekeepers generally have a relatively lower income and it is necessary to think of measures to increase their production and income. This study aimed at investigating the technical efficiency of the beekeeping units in Roudsar County, and the required data was collected using the random sampling method in person and by completing a questionnaire from 150 beekeepers in 2020. Metadata method was used to identify outliers in the dataset. Also, the bootstrap method was used to determine the type of return to scale test, and the data envelopment analysis model was used to estimate the technical efficiency compared to the group boundary; finally, the super-efficiency model was used to rank the studied units. According to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results, the beekeepers who migrate have higher super-efficiency than the beekeepers who do not migrate. The results of technical efficiency also showed that by using current inputs, it is possible to increase honey production by 26.6 percent for the migrating beekeepers and by 34.7 percent for the non-migrating beekeepers. In the end, since some farmers and gardeners do not allow the beekeepers' hives to be placed in their fields and gardens, within a suggestion, it is appropriate that the government or non-governmental organizations, by carrying out cultural and extension activities, take effective steps in order to raise awareness in this field.