Thank you for your reply.  You said, in part, "(BTW-I have seen hive beetles
in the mountain bee race in Lesotho at
10000 ft plus above sea level - in an are which gets covered by snow
for many months a year)"
 
Shim reported that here in the US they have found the beetles killed at
freezing temperatures.  However, they froze some larvae for 12 hours (or so,
I forget exactly) at 10 degrees F (-12 C.) and when thawed they were fine!
Scary stuff!
 
You also said "Lloyd asked whether I ever have seen larvae in the hives -the
answer
is yes - in other peoples hives, and once in my own - an observation
hive."
Implied here, and in your message where you talked about your observation
hive, is that when larvae are seen "it is too late".  If I have the
combination of your and Shim's comments correct the story seems to be
"seeing beetles in a hive is not bad, but seeing larvae is a disaster!"  Is
that more or less right?  In other words, there does not seem to be a level
of larvae infestation that is visible to a beekeeper and still harmless to a
hive?
 
If that is the case, and since beetles seem to be endemic in S.A., larvae
must "normally" be elsewhere than in a beehive, and the beetles must be
attracted to the hives from locations elsewhere.  Feral colonies?  Another
host?
 
You also said "If ants make a hive abscond, the beetles destroy it fast if
there is brood."  Are you being specific with your reference to BEETLES, or
do you mean LARVAE?  I suspect the latter, which implies that beetles are
actually laying eggs in the hives, and the bees are somehow eliminating
those eggs or very young larvae.  When the bees are gone, the larvae can
take over.
 
What you find from the beekeepers who raised Italians will be interesting,
as here it seems the bees are ignoring the hive beetles.  Unlike in S.A.,
when beetles are seen in the US, larvae seem to always be seen.
 
I for one, was around well before we had mites in the US and survived them,
despite being almost wiped out twice.  Moreover, I was never as concerned
about the effect of the mites as I am about the beetles!
 
Thanks for all your comments Garth.
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds(tm), the finest in comb honey production.
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