Small hive beetle:
Aethina tumida is a small, dark-coloured beetle that lives in beehives. Originally from Africa, the first discovery of small hive beetles in the western hemisphere occurred in the US. The first identified specimen was found in St. Lucie, FL in 1998.
The next year, a specimen collected from Charleston, SC in 1996 was identified and is believed to be the index case for the United States.
By December 1999, small hive beetle was reported in Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, and was found in California by 2006. The life cycle of this beetle includes pupation in the ground outside of the hive.
Controls to prevent ants from climbing into the hive are believed to also be effective against the hive beetle. Several beekeepers are experimenting with the use of diatomaceous earth around the hive as a way to disrupt the beetle’s lifecycle. The diatoms abrade the insect’s surface, causing them to dehydrate and die.
Several pesticides are currently used against the small hive beetle. The chemical is commonly applied inside the corrugations of a piece of cardboard. Standard corrugations are large enough that a small hive beetle will enter the cardboard through the end but small enough that honey bees can not enter (and thus are kept away from the pesticide).
Alternative controls (such as cooking-oilbased bottom board traps) are also becoming available. Also available are beetle eaters that go between the frames that uses cooking oil.
Wax moths:
Wax moth (Aphomia sociella)—more often associated with bumble bees (Bombus sp.)
Waxworm
Galleria mellonella (greater wax moths) will not attack the bees directly, but feed on the wax used by the bees to build their honeycomb. Their full development to adults requires access to used brood comb or brood cell cleanings—these contain protein essential for the larvae’s development, in the form of brood cocoons.
The destruction of the comb will spill or contaminate stored honey and may kill bee larvae. When honey supers are stored for the winter in a mild climate, or in heated storage, the wax moth larvae can destroy portions of the comb, even though they will not fully develop.
Damaged comb may be scraped out and will be replaced by the bees. Wax moth larvae and eggs are killed by freezing, so storage in unheated sheds or barns in higher latitudes is the only control necessary.
Because wax moths cannot survive a cold winter, they are usually not a problem for beekeepers in the northern U.S. or Canada, unless they survive winter in heated storage, or are brought from the south by purchase or migration of beekeepers. They thrive and spread most rapidly with temperatures above 30 °C (90 °F), so some areas with only occasional days that hot, rarely have a problem with wax moths, unless the colony is already weak due to stress from other factors.
Control and treatment:
A strong hive generally needs no treatment to control wax moths; the bees themselves will kill and clean out the moth larvae and webs. Wax moth larvae may fully develop in cell cleanings when such cleanings accumulate thickly where they are not accessible to the bees.
Wax moth development in comb is generally not a problem with top bar hives as unused combs are usually left in the hive during the winter. Since this type of hive is not used in severe wintering conditions, the bees will be able to patrol and inspect the unused comb.
Wax moths can be controlled in stored comb by application of the aizawai variety of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) spores via spraying. It is a very effective biological control and has an excellent safety Wax moths can be controlled chemically with paradichlorobenzene (moth crystals or urinal disks).
If chemical methods are used, the combs must be well-aired-out for several days before use. The use of naphthalene (mothballs) is discouraged because it accumulates in the wax, which can kill bees or contaminate honey stores. Control of wax moths by other means includes the freezing of the comb for at least twenty-four hours.
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