beekeeping "devastation" in the south by small hive beetle is still
debatable...it appears at least two introductions of shb occurred from
unidentified finds in s.carolina (1996) and georgia
(1997); by the time shb was identified in florida (1998) and thereafter it
was blamed for the loss of some tens of thousands of colonies...however,
this episode overlapped the discovery of fluvalinate/amitraz resistant
varroa and the resultant collapse of hives could have had more to do with
that than opportunistic
scavenger beetles...
jury is still out and the matter continues to be controversial,
but overlooked for the most part is the potential impact on all
pollen bees, both native/exotic and social/solitary, as shb can
complete it's lifecycle in the abscence of honey bees (see the article on
bombus as potential alternate host in abj 1/00) and
even in some fruits (cantaloupe as reported in earlier abj's)...