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Title: LABORATORY REARING OF SMALL HIVE BEETLES, AETHINA TUMIDA MURRAY (COLEOPTERA, NITIDULIDAE)

Author
item NEUMANN, P - RHODES UNIV. SOUTH AFRICA
item PIRK, C - RHODES UNIV. SOUTH AFRICA
item HEPBURN, H - RHODES UNIV. SOUTH AFRICA
item Elzen, Patti
item Baxter, James

Submitted to: Journal of Apicultural Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/31/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, is a newly introduced species from Africa where it co-exists with African honey bees. This species is not a honey bee pest in Africa, but is in contrast a serious economic pest in the Western Hemisphere on honey bees of European descent. In order to study basic characteristics of this beetle (its biology and behavior) large numbers of the beetle are needed. In this report we present techniques that allow rapid and easy rearing of large numbers of the small hive beetle.

Technical Abstract: The small hive beetle (A. tumida) is a common honeybee (Apis mellifera) parasite in Africa where little damage is caused to a strong colony. However, it is a serious threat in the Western Hemisphere where the beetle has recently been introduced and where host colonies lack apparent behavioral resistance mechanisms of Africanized honey bees. Captive breeding of small hive beetles (SHB) is an important research technique to quickly produce many SHB under controlled conditions for experiments. Here we report on a fast and simple technique for rearing SHB in the laboratory.