Comparative Evaluation of Horizontal and Vertical Frame Beehives at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center of Oromia, Ethiopia

: The sole purpose of a hive is to encourage the bees to construct their nests in such a way that it is easy to manage and maintain them. The study was conducted at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center to evaluate the performances of honeybee colonies, honey yield and cost incurred in both horizontal beehives as compare to movable frame beehive. A total of 12 honeybee colonies ( Apis mellifera bandasii ) were established and assigned into four treatment groups. All the established honeybee colonies were managed in uniform manner until they are established properly and acquire uniform strength. Data on bee population, brood area, pollen and nectar stored areas were recorded using Liebefeld method (frame unit area, 10 x10 cm 2 ) at every 21 days. In addition, data on average honey yield per harvest/colony, production costs and profit were recorded for each treatment during the study period. All the recorded data were organized by Microsoft excel and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis of variance ANOVA of SAS software version 20. Results revealed that there was statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between Tensheratach beehive, Modern beehive and Bacho beehive with regarding to honey yield. The highest mean honey yield per hive (24.81±3.24 kg/hive) was recorded from Tensheratach beehive followed by Modern beehive (21.51±2.36 kg/hive) and Bacho beehive (17.3±1.43 kg/hive). Significantly greatest adult bee population, brood area, pollen and nectar stored areas were also recorded from Tensharatech beehive compare to Modern beehive and Bacho beehive. The total costs of production and economic returns of Tensheratach beehive were higher than Modern beehive and Bacho beehive. From this study, it is possible to recommend that Tensheratach beehive can be used as an alternative beehive technology for honey production with full packages in addition to modern beehive.