Dr. Shimanuki spoke at EAS and addressed the latest arrival, Aethina
tumida.  Basically Shim said it's too soon to tell if and how big Andy's
monikered Afro Beetle will be in the US.  We simply don't know.
Guesstimates can be made based on how the beetle behaves in its indiginous
region, but taken out of its original area all beetle bets are off.
 
Assumptions are being made that the problem zone will approximate that of
wax moths.  Northern regions have wax moth problems but the winter keeps
the moth problems in check.  It is anticipated that will be the case with
beetles also.  It may be the case that freezing grounds will kill off the
pupal stage of the beetle and the only Northern problem will come from
hitch hiking beetles in migratory hives.  It is NOT KNOWN if beetles will
overwinter in Northern bee clusters.  It is the pupal stage of the wax moth
that overwinters and it is expected that the pupal stage of the Afro
Beetle will die when the ground freezes.  Afro beetles MAY just be a
curiosity to Northern beekeepers, but the short of it is WE DON'T KNOW
AT THIS TIME!  Now doesn't this make all you southern beekeepers want to
head for the tundra?
 
Aaron Morris - thinking I'd rather shovel snow than beetles!