The Small Hive Beetle, Aethina tumida.

Author(s) : LUNDIE, A. E.

Miscellaneous : Science Bulletin. Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Union of South Africa 1940 No.220 pp.30 pp. ref.4

Abstract : An account is given of observations at Pretoria on the bionomics of Aethina tumida, Murray, whish has been found in bee-hives in parts of South Africa. This Nitidulid was described in 1867 from Nigeria, and was recorded from Durban in 1920, but there is apparently no earlier record of its occurrence in bee-hives. It is probably widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical Africa and is apparently commoner in the warmer areas of South Africa. Though not a major pest, it sometimes becomes almost as harmful as Galleria mellonella, L. The adults collect mostly on the rear portion of the bottom board of the hive, where they can easily feed on the pellets of pollen that fall from the cluster of bees above, and are relatively free from interference. The larvae are particularly troublesome in weak colonies and in combs in storage. They feed on honey and pollen, and though they damage the comb, are less destructive than those of G. mellonella. 

All stages of A. túmida are briefly described. The eggs are laid in irregular masses, preferably in cracks and crevices, and pupation occurs in the soil beneath the hive. In breeding experiments, in which the Nitidulid was successfully reared in small tin boxes at room temperature, the egg, larval and pupal stages lasted 2-3, 10-16 and 21-28 days, respectively, and the adults survived for over six months. Five generations developed in the course of the year, but oviposition did not occur from mid-April to mid-August. The number of eggs deposited by a single female was not ascertained, but two or three beetles in a pile of supers can cause a heavy infestation. The larvae did riot mature when supplied with honey only, but developed as rapidly on pollen as on a mixture of pollen and honey. No evidence of parasitism was obtained, and although females of Microbracon brevi-cornis, Wesm., which parasitises the larvae of G. mellonella, readily inserted their ovipositors into larvae of A. tumida, no parasites were reared from these larvae, all of which died on the second or third day after being stung. 

Stored combs that are heavily infested with larvae of the Nitidulid can be fumigated with carbon bisulphide at a minimum dose of 1 oz to three deep Langstroth hive bodies. Combs that are only lightly infested can be returned to the bees to be cleaned, but those with heavier infestations should first be washed with a hose. Although the bees rarely succeed in ejecting the adult beetles from the hive, they have no great difficulty in removing the larvae from the combs.

Record Number : 19410501062
Publisher : Pretoria

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I have this pamphlet --  if anyone wants to email me privately I can send it. -- PLB

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