Search

Climate change and biological invasions are two major global environmental challenges. Both may interact, e.g. via altered impact and distribution of invasive alien species. Even though invasive species play a key role for compromising the health of honey bees, the impact of climate change on the severity of such species is still unknown. The small hive beetle (SHB, Aethina tumida, Murray) is a parasite of honey bee colonies. It is endemic to sub‐Saharan Africa and has established populations on all continents except Antarctica. Since SHBs pupate in soil, pupation performance is governed foremost by two abiotic factors, soil temperature and moisture, which will be affected by climate change. Here, we investigated SHB invasion risk globally under current and future climate scenarios. We modelled survival and development time during pupation (=pupal performance) in response to soil temperature and soil moisture using published and novel experimental data. Presence data on SHB distribution were used for model validation. We then linked the model with global soil data in order to classify areas (resolution: 10 arcmin; i.e. 18.6 km at the equator) as unsuitable, marginal and suitable for SHB pupation performance. Under the current climate, the results show that many areas globally yet uninvaded are actually suitable, suggesting considerable SHB invasion risk. Future scenarios of global warming project a vehement increase in climatic suitability for SHB and corresponding potential for invasion, especially in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere, thereby creating demand for enhanced and adapted mitigation and management. Our analysis shows, for the first time, effects of global warming on a honey bee pest and will help areas at risk to prepare adequately. In conclusion, this is a clear case for global warming promoting biological invasion of a pest species with severe potential to harm important pollinator species globally., The small hive beetle (SHB) is an invasive honey bee pest. We investigated the potential distribution and impact of the small have beetle based on its ability to pupate under current and future climate conditions. The results show many areas yet uninvaded, as suitable for pupation, suggesting considerable invasion risk. Future scenarios of global warming project a vehement increase in climatic suitability for SHBs to pupate. Our study shows that climate change, and global warming in particular, can promote the impact of a honey bee pest on a global scale.

Provides details about small hive beetle biology, which is a crucial part of identification and treatment, along with popular small hive beetle control methods

Some parasites of social insects are able to exploit the exchange of food between nestmates via trophallaxis, because they are chemically disguised as nestmates. However, a few parasites succeed in trophallactic solicitation although they are attacked by workers. The underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The small hive beetle (=SHB), Aethina tumida, is such a parasite of honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies and is able to induce trophallaxis. Here, we investigate whether SHB trophallactic solicitation is innate and affected by sex and experience. We quantified characteristics of the trophallactic solicitation in SHBs from laboratory‐reared individuals that were either bee‐naïve or had 5 days experience. The data clearly show that SHB trophallactic solicitation is innate and further suggest that it can be influenced by both experience and sex. Inexperienced SHB males begged more often than any of the other groups had longer breaks than their experienced counterparts and a longer soliciting duration than both experienced SHB males and females, suggesting that they start rather slowly and gain more from experience. Successful experienced females and males were not significantly different from each other in relation to successful trophallactic interactions, but had a significantly shorter soliciting duration compared to all other groups, except successful inexperienced females. Trophallactic solicitation success, feeding duration and begging duration were not significantly affected by either SHB sex or experience, supporting the notion that these behaviors are important for survival in host colonies. Overall, success seems to be governed by quality rather than quantity of interactions, thereby probably limiting both SHB energy investment and chance of injury (

International audience; No abstract available

International audience; AbstractSmall hive beetles (SHBs) are parasites of social bee colonies endemic to Africa and have become a widely distributed invasive species. Damage to colonies in the new ranges seems to be governed by higher infestation levels, but the factors underlying SHB numbers are poorly understood. Since SHBs pupate in the soil outside of colonies, local temperature and humidity are likely to underlie infestation levels. Here, we conducted a survey in Nigeria of 82 honey bee colonies, Apis mellifera adansonii (26 apiaries, 14 states), in both forest and savannah with a range of temperatures and precipitation. We recorded significantly higher SHB infestation levels in forests compared to savannah. While there was no significant correlation between local temperature and SHB infestation levels, a significant positive correlation was found between local rainfall and SHB numbers in colonies. Under the temperature conditions of the study region, precipitation and a forest cover appear to impact SHB infestation levels of honey bee colonies. Our data suggest that new SHB distribution ranges with both forests and high precipitation will be especially at risk.

International audience; AbstractIn order to investigate the possible infection of Nosema ceranae in small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida, in 2017, beetle specimens were sampled in Gainesville (Florida). By Real-Time PCR (qPCR), using previously developed primers based on the 16S rRNA gene, N. ceranae was detected in 7 out of 10 SHB specimens, proving that the microsporidia can be transmitted by the alien beetle. This is the first report of N. ceranae infection in A. tumida, although evaluated on a few specimens.

To Aethina. tumida, ενδημεί στην Αφρική, προσβάλλεια δύναμα ή καταπονημένα μελίσσια, εγκαταλελειμμένες κυψέλες, αποθηκευμένες τροφές και είναι επιβλαβές ήσσονος σημασίας για τις αφρικανικές φυλές. Αντίθετα, η ανακάλυψη του στην Α. meìlifera συνδυάστηκε με σημαντικές απώλειες. Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται η βιβλιογραφία σχετικά με τη μορφολογία, τη βιολογία, τη διάρκεια ζωής και την αναπαραγωγική δραστηριότητα του παρασίτου, καθώς και παράγοντες που καθορίζουν τη σχέση ξενιστή-παρασίτου στις αφρικανικές φυλές μελισσών, καθώς και στην ευρωπαϊκή μέλισσα. Αναφέρονται στοιχεία για την εξάπλωση, τις απώλειες που προκαλεί στο μελίσσι και στους χώρους αποθήκευσης του μελιού ή του μελισσοκομικού εξοπλισμού και για τις οικονομικές επιπτώσεις του στη μελισσοκομία. Επιπλέον, παρατίθενται στοιχεία για τη διάγνωση της παρουσίας του καιτα μέσα για την αντιμετώπιση του., Small hive beetle [SHB], Aethina tumida, is a honeybee parasite native to Africa, where it is only a minor pest of the African subspecies damaging weak or stressed colonies, abandoned honeybee nests and stored bee products. In contrast, it can be a harmful parasite of European honeybee A. meìlifera. In this paper, the literature concerning morphology, biology, longevity and reproductive success of SHB, as well as host-parasite relationships, are reviewed. Distribution, potential damages to colonies, stored honey and equipment, as well as the economic importance of beede infestations, are presented. Moreover, diagnosis methods, control methods and strategies are also reviewed.

International audience; AbstractAethina tumida (small hive beetle, SHB) was first detected in September 2014 in Calabria region, southern Italy, and in a single apiary in Sicily in November 2014. In September 2015, SHB was again recorded in Calabria, and in 2016, only sentinel honey bee nucleus colonies were found to be infested. Its phylogenetic relationship and possible origin were investigated comparing the cox1 sequences with the corresponding region available in the GenBank database. The neighbour-joining method revealed that the first Italian specimen belonged to a group also containing an African specimen from Cameroon. The Italian specimens differ from the SHBs spread worldwide and are split into two different groups: group B1 includes the AfricCam3 sequence and the first SHB identified in Calabria; group B2 includes specimens from Calabria and the only one from Sicily which share identical cox1 sequences. SHB in Italy appears to have been introduced from Africa and includes independent or contemporary incursions in the two concerned regions. The most likely scenario is that SHB was introduced into Calabria followed by man-mediated migration to Sicily.

De kleine bijenkastkever is een parasiet van de westerse honingbij (Apis mellifera spp.). In 2014 is deze kever aangetroffen in Zuid-Italië. Ondanks een uitvoerig uitroeiings-programma blijkt een jaar later dat de kever zich in het gebied gevestigd heeft. Het is aannemelijk dat de kever zich in de komende jaren verder over Europa zal verspreiden. De kever kan grote schade aan bijenvolken aanrichten, maar is met gerichte methodieken goed te beheersen. Dit document geeft een beknopt overzicht van de huidige kennis, over de kleine bijenkastkever

De kleine bijenkastkever is een parasiet van de westerse honingbij (Apis mellifera spp.). In 2014 is deze kever aangetroffen in Zuid-Italië. Ondanks een uitvoerig uitroeiings-programma blijkt een jaar later dat de kever zich in het gebied gevestigd heeft. Het is aannemelijk dat de kever zich in de komende jaren verder over Europa zal verspreiden. De kever kan grote schade aan bijenvolken aanrichten, maar is met gerichte methodieken goed te beheersen. Dit document geeft een beknopt overzicht van de huidige kennis, over de kleine bijenkastkever

Etinioza je bolest koju uzrokuje mali kornjaš košnice (Aethina tumida) infiltrirajući se u pčelinje zajednice gdje se nastanjuje i razmnožava. Hraneći se leglom i proizvodima pčela uzrokuje brzo propadanje njihovih zajednica čime stvara ogromne ekonomske gubitke. Svoje djelovanje je započeo u subsaharskoj Africi odakle se, zahvaljujući trgovini pčelinjim zajednicama, prenio i na druge kontinente poput Sjeverne Amerike i Australije. Od tada se u tim područjima redovito bilježe slučajevi invazije malog kornjaša košnice koji se ubrzano širi na nova područja. U Europi je etinioza do sada utvrđena dva puta, jednom u Portugalu i jednom u Italiji, ali ako se ne spriječi na vrijeme, mali kornjaš bi mogao preplaviti cijelu Europu, a s njom i Hrvatsku ostavljajući iza sebe brojne uništene pčelinjake. Stoga je cilj ovog rada bio ukazati na probleme koje stvara ovaj štetnik, obraditi njegovu biologiju, te ponuditi neka od mogućih rješenja za prevenciju i suzbijanje njegova širenja.

The small hive beetle (SHB) is still present in Calabria one year after its first detection in September 2014. Detailed epidemiological studies would improve our knowledge of the survival, spread and establishment of the pest. Movement of an infested hive could spread SHB rapidly over large distances. Modelling of SHB spread in absence of movement of hives, suggests that natural spread of the beetle alone will take more than hundred years to reach Abruzzo from Calabria (around 250 km). A model considering the ownership of multiple apiaries per beekeeper indicates that spread would be 10 times faster. Opportunity maps indicate that, once introduced, the SHB could complete its life cycle in all EU Member States between May and September. It is recommended that restrictions on the movement of honey bees, bumblebees and commodities from infested to non-infested areas be maintained until SHB is eradicated, to prevent spread of the pest. Strengthening visual inspection, preventing infestation using a fine mesh and issuing a health certificate for intra-EU trade of queen bees, within 24 hours before dispatch, could reduce the risk of SHB transmission via consignments. In general, visual inspection of the beehive, as described in this document, is the preferred method of detecting SHB. Traps could help to detect and reduce SHB infestation levels. Maintaining good honey house hygiene and good beekeeping practices are the most important measures to control SHB where eradication is no longer the objective, given that no approved veterinary medicine is available in the EU. A field experiment found natural infestation of commercial bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) colonies placed next to SHB-infested honey bee hives. However, there are no data published on SHB infestation in natural bumblebee colonies. Studies are needed of the capacity of B. terrestris, occurring in Europe, to act as a SHB host.

International audience; The effects of natural diet (brood, pollen, honey, and their various combinations), mating duration (1 day versus 2 days), female (F) to male (M) ratio (1F/1M, 2F/1M, and 1F/2M), and temperature (34 versus 27–29 °C) on ovary activation, mating success, and fecundity of small hive beetles (SHBs) were studied. Our results indicated that regardless of mating duration, (1) a diet of brood, pollen, and honey presented together supported the highest fecundity; (2) intake of protein-rich diets encouraged ovary activation and egg-laying; and (3) diet of honey alone did not encourage ovary activation, mating success, and egg-laying at room temperature. Regardless of the number of males available for mating, egg-laying varied through time. Overall, females that were presented with two males for a 5-day mating period had higher fecundity than females provided with one male or three male partners. High temperature accelerated ovary activation and egg-laying regardless of female to male ratio during a 15-h mating period. Knowledge of these factors that influence fecundity helps elucidate why SHBs are very successful pests of honey bees.

U državama u kojima je mali kornjaš košnice prisutan i uzrokuje velike gospodarske štete, kao i štete u pčelarstvu invadiranjem pčelinjih zajednica, primjenjuju se i mjere kontrole broja nametnika uporabom veterinarsko-medicinskih proizvoda na osnovi aktivnih tvari kumafosa i flumetrina, dok su za tretiranje tla u uporabi preparati na osnovi permetrina.

Background The Small Hive Beetle (SHB) is considered one of the major threats to the long-term sustainability and economic success of honey bee colonies in Europe. The risk of introduction into the EU had been reported as moderate to high. Indeed, it has been recently reported an outbreak in the south of Italy. Here, the presence of Aethina tumida in beekeeping farms in Spain was evaluated using a previously described qPCR protocol. Findings When hive debris from 398 colonies (collected in 2010 and 2011) was analysed, grouped by region, SHB were not detected in any of the samples, making it unnecessary to analyse the samples individually. Conclusion The SHB free-status is shown. This epidemiological surveillance would appear to be useful to detect the possible future entry of this pathogen.

In the last decade the beekeeping sector in various countries around the world is affected by a variety of health problems. In addition to the use of pesticides the biggest problem of bees are considered their own diseases, which include the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) and bee parasite Tropilaelaps spp. Commission of the European Union (EU) in 2003 adopted regulation No 1398/2003 on the protection of the bee population in the EU against to two exotic parasites "the small hive beetle" and mite Tropilaelaps clerae. While Tropilaelaps clerae never been registered in the EU, unfortunately small hive beetle after 2004 in Portugal, in September 2014 appeared in Italy again. Risk assessment of two exotic parasites refers to the evaluation of health risks (its impact on the population of bees in Slovakia, the financial losses) as well as environmental risk assessment (rapid reduction of entomophilous pollination of plants and the consequent reduction in crop yields per hectare)., SK; sk; efsa.focalpoint@land.gov.sk

International audience; Small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, are honeybee parasites native to Africa, where they are a minor pest only. In contrast, the beetles can be harmful parasites of European honeybee subspecies. Resistance of African subspecies to infestations is probably due to quantitative differences in a series of behaviours such as absconding, aggression, removal of parasite eggs and larvae and social encapsulation. The beetles use counter-resistance tactics such as defence posture, dropping, hiding, escape, egg laying in small gaps and trophallactic mimicry. Small hive beetles are efficient in long-range transportation (US: 1996, Australia: 2002) and can establish populations in temperate regions due to their overwintering capacity in honeybee clusters. Host shifts to other bee species may also occur. Thus, small hive beetles have the potential to become a global threat to apiculture and wild bee populations. However, our knowledge of the small hive beetle is still limited, creating demand for more research in all areas of its biology.

International audience; The response of male and female Small Hive Beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida, to air-borne volatiles from adult worker bees, (Apis mellifera), pollen, unripe honey, beeswax, wax by-products ("slumgum"), and bee brood, was investigated in olfactometric and flight-tunnel choice bioassays. In both bioassay systems, males and females responded strongly to the volatiles from worker bees, freshly collected pollen and slumgum but not to those from commercially available pollen, beeswax and bee brood. The response to pollen volatiles was dose dependent, while response to volatiles from worker bees increased with both the number and age of the bees. Females were more responsive than males to the different volatile sources, with greater response in tests with unripe honey. In flight-tunnel choice tests, Super Q-trapped volatiles from worker bees elicited a response comparable to the response to living workers, while trapped volatiles from other sources were not attractive.

Le Petit Coleoptere des ruches (PCR), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae), se nourrit de pollen et de miel et detruit les rayons des colonies d'abeilles domestiques (Apis mellifera L.). Ces PCRs, originaires d'Afrique, ont ete trouves pour la premiere fois aux Etats-Unis en 1996. En six ans ils se sont repandus dans au moins 25 etats des Etats-Unis, provoquant des pertes de colonies dans toute la region du sud-est. Dans ce travail nous avons utilise la variation du gene mitochondrial COI pour decrire les populations de PCRs. Les sequences de l'ADN mitochondrial placent les populations de PCRs des Etats-Unis au sein d'un clade de coleopteres d'Afrique du Sud. Il est interessant de noter que deux haplotypes distincts existent aux Etats-Unis. Une recolte de 539 PCRs dans 26 ruchers repartis en Floride, Georgie, Caroline du Nord et du Sud (Tab. I) a montre des repartitions irregulieres de ces deux haplotypes dans la region du sud est des Etats-Unis. Les PCRs des premieres recoltes faites en Caroline du Sud presentaient une frequence elevee de l'haplotype NA1, haplotype generalement rare en Floride et en Georgie et absent de l'echantillon de Caroline du Nord. Les recoltes recentes en Caroline du Sud ressemblent plus a celles des autres etats. La taille corporelle des PCRs n'est pas correlee a l'haplotype (Tab. II), ce qui suggere que la frequence des haplotypes ne reflete pas les pressions de selection sur les differences covariantes dans les genomes de ces PCRs. Nous discutons des implications qu'ont ces resultats dans les problemes suivants : deduction du nombre d'introductions separees de ces PCRs aux Etats-Unis, identification de nouvelles introductions et estimation de la dynamique de migration des PCRs au fur et a mesure qu'il etendent leur aire de repartition dans le Nouveau Monde. Les haplotypes des coleopteres des ruches aux Etats-Unis indiquent, soit deux introductions separees soit des effets de derive suivis d'une dispersion extremement limitee.

International audience

Mali kornjaš košnice svrstava se u porodicu Nitiduilidae, a uobičajeno se hrani mješavinom peluda, meda i pčelinjeg kruha, ali i pčelinjim leglom što ga čini i nametnikom. Međutim, ličinke malog kornjaša košnice praktički uništavaju invadirane pčelinje zajednice.

Južnoafrički kornjaš, Aethina tumida, dosad u Europi egzotičan nametnik pčelinjih zajednica utvrđen je u Italiji 11. rujna 2014. godine.

Voor de tweede keer in 10 jaar heeft de kleine bijenkastkever (Aethina tumida) voet aan de grond gekregen in Europa. Een eerste uitbraak in Portugal in 2004 werd snel ingedamd, maar een nieuwe uitbraak in het zuiden van Italië lijkt van permanente aard.

Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “C. Darwin”, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via A. Borelli 50, 00161 Rome, Italy Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Lazio e Toscana, Laboratorio di Parassitologia e Sorveglianza Entomologica, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy MIPAAF-National Forest Service, Ufficio Territoriale per la Biodiversita di Belluno, Via Gregorio XVI 8, 32100 Belluno, Italy Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, NRL for Beekeeping, Viale dell’Universita 10, 35020 Legnaro, Padua, Italy California Department of Food & Agriculture, Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA 95832-1448, USA

Dana 1. listopada 2014. godine prijavljena je službena sumnja na etiniozu na području sjevenozapadne Hrvatske. zbog vrlo alarmantne situacije s prvom europskom pojavom te proširenošću navedenog nametnika na području Italije obavljen je terenski pregled i službeno uzorkovannje. provedbom morfološke identifikacije kornjaša dostavljenih u Nacionalni laboratorij za bolesti pčela utvrđeno je da je riječ o europskom kornjašu Cychramus luteus.