As an aside, rotten banana seems to be a good diet for small hive beetles, if you want to raise any of those ; )

> At times the banana would turn dark brown, break down, and become a thick liquid slime. This slime did not seem to cause any disturbance in the feeding of the larvae and they would continue to crawl through the substance without any trouble. 

> Beetles were able to successfully reproduce on alternative diets of banana, cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, and an artificial 'manduca' diet. 

> The rate of reproduction is higher on the typical honey bee diet of pollen and honey than on any of the alternative diets.

2002 KELLER, JENNIFER JUNE. Testing effects of alternative diets on reproduction rates of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida.

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