Türkiye’de arıcılık faaliyetleri zaman içerisinde çeşitligelişim ve değişim evreleri yaşamış ve arıcılık faaliyetine olan ilginin zamanla arttığı görülmüştür. Arıcılık faaliyetlerindeki gelişim ve değişimler modern tekniklerin kullanılması, eski kovanların yerini yeni kovanlara bırakması ve gezgin arıcılık yönteminin geliştirilmesiyle örneklendirilebilir.Arıcılık faaliyetindeki gelişmeler zaman içerisinde arıcılar tarafından, karşılıklı etkileşim sayesinde farklı bölgelere yayılmıştır. Geçmişte arıcılık faaliyetleri açısından geri kalmış bölgeler zamanla gelişim göstermiştir. Bu makalede arıcılık faaliyetleri açısından hızlı bir gelişme gösteren Güneydoğu Anadolu bölgesine dikkat çekilirken, bu bölgedeki arıcılık faaliyetleri açısından öne çıkan Şanlıurfa’nın Siverek ilçesindeki arıcılık faaliyetlerinin gelişimiirdelenmiştir. Bu doğrultuda Siverek’teki arı ırklarının özellikleri, arı kolonilerinin dağılış yerleri, arıcılık faaliyetleri sonucunda elde edilen ürün miktarları ve gezgin arıcılık faaliyetleri coğrafyanın prensipleri doğrultusunda incelenmiştir.Yöntem olarak tümden gelim prensibi benimsenmiştir. Parçayı anlayabilmek için önce bütün olarak değerlendirilmiş ve bu bütün içerisinden daha özele inilerek sonuca varılmıştır. Çalışma alanıyla ilgili rakamal verilerin birçoğu TÜİK (Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu)’ten elde edilmiştir. Bu veriler dişında geriye kalan birçok veri arazi gözlemlerinden faydalanılarak üretilmiştir. Özellikle harita çizimlerinde CBS programlarından (Global Mapper, Map Info) sıkça faydalanılmıştır.Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesinde geçmişten bu yana özellikle Siirt ve Diyarbakır’da arıcılık faaliyetleri sürdürülmektedir. Son yıllarda bu iki ile Şanlıurfa da eklenmiştir. Şanlıurfa da özellikle Siverek ilçesinde arıcılık faaliyetlerinin tamamı gezgin arıcılık şeklinde yapılması bal üretiminde büyükartışların görülmesine neden olmuştur. Bu artış çalışmanın seçildiği alanın belirlenmesindeki en büyük etken olmuştur.

Beekeeping in Turkey had been various stages of development and change in time and it has been shown that the interest of beekeeping activities has been increased day by day.Development and change in beekeeping can be exampled by using the modern methods, new hive usage instead of the old ones and developing the mobile beekeeping methods. In time, developments in beekeeping have been spread to different regions by the beekeepers thanks to interaction. Formerly undeveloped regions - in terms of beekeeping activities – have developed over time. In this article, it’s noted the Southeast of Anatolia in terms of the speed development of beekeeping and the development of beekeeping activities in this region had been examined especially in Şanlıurfa – Siverek where these activities are popular. Accordingly, the features of bee race in Siverek, distribution the locations of bee colonies, the product quantities obtained from beekeeping activities and rich beekeeping activities have been examined in accordance with the principles of the geography. “Deduction” principle has been adopted as the method. At first, to be able to understand the “piece”, the subject was considered as a whole and the conclusion was reached by going down from whole to more particular pieces. Most of the numerical data regarding to the working space was obtained from TUIK (Turkey Statistical Institute) Rest of the data were obtained from the field observations. Especially, CBS programs (Global Mapper, Map Info) were used very often for map drawings. Beekeeping activities have been kept in South-east of Anatolia, especially in Siirt and Diyarbakır from past to present. In the last years, there is also Şanlıurfa among these cities. In Şanlıurfa especially in Siverek, all of the beekeeping activities were realized as “traveler beekeeping” way and it caused the big increase of honey production. This increase was the major factor for determining the working area. However, It was investigated why Siverek’s beekeeping activities were most popular among all district areas of Şanlıurfa. In this study, while we analyze the reasons of the development of beekeeping in Siverek, we aim to raise Siverek to a better level in terms of beekeeping activities. Again, in the geographical sense, in order that the studies of beekeeping are limited, the contributing about beekeeping in geographical literature is aimed by the help of this study. Not only the effects of government policy but also the effect of modern beekeeping methods has been great for increasing of the product obtained, the number of hives and beekeeping activities in Siverek. Main study is choosing the correct bee race. In Siverek, there are Anatolian bees which has already adapted to conditions of the region and heatresistant Syrian bees but in these days, there is a high demand for Caucasian bee race. There is an unbalanced distribution of beehives in Siverek town. Especially, the beehives that can be seen at a very high rate in the North villages are rarely seen in the South and even you can’t find any of them in some regions of the South. The main reason of this is the presence of “South-east Toros Mountains” in North and therefore, more rainfall. Depending on the excess rainfall in the North, it has also increased the diversity of vegetation. The honey producing that’s realized in pasture lands and which is a very valuable food source for human nutrition is a very important activity in terms of obtaining nectar, royal jelly, pollen etc…There are a lot of pasture lands in the North of Siverek town and these lands are very important for beekeeping activities in terms of the diversity of vegetation. Directly or indirectly, the presences of bees are linked to the plants and very strong ties were established between them in course of time. Typically, this partnership is based on mutual benefits relationship. One of the best example to be given to this relationship; honey bee’s relationship between plant flowers. Flowers need bees to pollinate and bees need to flowers for nutrition. In other words, the efficiency of beekeeping depends on some environmental factors such as climate and vegetation. If we examine the accommodation of bee colonies in Siverek town according to the seasons, again we can see a tight connection with the temperature and vegetation. In Siverek town different plants grow in different seasons so is caused to differ the distribution of bee colonies according to the seasons. Beekeepers are disposed intensively on different areas in different seasons. There is a parallel between the geographical distribution of beekeeping and the flora species that the bees can get honey. However, this condition is not indispensable because, the semi-nomadic or nomadic beekeeping is available and they can be economic as well as resident beekeeper. Some beekeepers live in low valleys or on the coast in winter and along with the spring, they go to the higher grounds stage by state depending on the circuit of flora blooming. After completion of travel and production, they go back down to the lower part in autumn. Mentioned migration usually occurs between the seaside and the mountains. These two types of nomadism are defined as “Semi-migratory beekeeping”. In Siverek, generally beekeeping season opens in May. This season continues throughout the five months and it ends on the 15th of September. I mean, the honey production stops at Siverek after the 15th of September. But after the 15th of September, the growth of important plants for beekeeping activities in different regions of the country caused the beekeepers in Siverek to be “mobile-beekeeping”. Siverek town has got a high potential of beekeeping depending on its natural and human conditions. Because of these natural and human conditions, beekeeping activities in the town have reached the highest level and modernization in a short time. Despite all of these, this potential can be used much well and more products can be achieved with new plans and projects to be carried out. The most intensive areas of beekeeping operations in Siverek are the east parts of the town. This is because the advantages of Karacadağ volcanic mass. Due to be higher than its surrounding, diversity of plant and the longer survival of plants can be counted among these advantages. Most of the lands used for beekeeping activities in Siverek correspond to the pastures. Because of the advantages of pastures, in addition to beekeeping especially there is small ruminant as well. In recent years, the yield is considerably reduced due to the excessive grazing. However, Goat has a great importance among the small ruminants so it caused a larger damage of plants. For these reasons, local governments should conduct a study together with the beekeeper associations, specific areas must be established to ensure the continuation of beekeeping activities seamlessly. The agricultural chemicals used in cotton cultivation grown in western and southwestern parts of Siverek (these parts were opened to irrigation) affect the beekeeping activities negatively. Farmers should be encouraged about the usage of the agricultural chemicals which don’t harm the bees and also protects the products. One of the major obstacles to the development of beekeeping is also fake beekeepers. These non-beekeepers get their beekeeping certificates in some illegal ways to be able to obtain financial gain and exploit the support given for the beekeepers by the state. This kind of people should be determinate as soon as possible and their beekeeping certificates should be cancelled. A honey packing plants must be established in the town for delivering the products obtained in Siverek to the markets in a healthy way. This is very important for the elimination of the imbalance in honey prices and also it’s important for the development of the beekeeping activities in the town. At this scale, the applications regarding to the branding of Siverek and Karacadağ honeys must be finalized in a short time. There are three pure bee races (Anatolian, Syrian and Caucasian races) that have a great importance on the honey production in Siverek. Instead of the hybridization of the existing bee races, protecting and improving of the pure race can give a more accurate result. As a result of beekeeping, not only the honey is produced but also the products such as pollen, bee wax, bee venom and propolis are obtained. Beeswax has been started to use a lot in recent days, especially in the health sector. However beeswax is used in the artificial honeycomb industry to be given to the bees again. Among the products commonly used especially in the health sector, there are Pollen, propolis and bee venom as well as the wax. But pollen, bee venom and propolis are not produced in Siverek except honey and beeswax. If it is desired to improve the beekeeping activities and generate more income from these activities, needed attention should be paid by the beekeepers on the production of these kinds of products except honey.