> A postscript: The small hive beetle that we now have here in the US is
> Aethina tumida and is native to South Africa.  There is another hive
> beetle in South Africa which is larger, Hyplostoma fuligineus.  I
> wonder if this was Allen's Australian SHB?

Apparently not.

Apparently there are different varieties of the Aethina tumida and the
ones in Aus come from a different region than those extant in the USA
and are visably different.  I understand that some Australians are aware
of that.  We weren't, at least on the beekeeper level.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/