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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Chemistry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #255002
Title: Monitoring Aethina tumida (Coleoptera:Nitidulidae) with baited bottom board traps: occurrence and seasonal abundance in honey bee colonies in Kenya

Author
item TORTO, BALDWIN - International Centre Of Insect Physiology And Ecology
item FOMBONG, A - International Centre Of Insect Physiology And Ecology
item Arbogast, Richard
item Teal, Peter

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/28/2010
Publication Date: 12/15/2010
Citation: Torto, B., Fombong, A.T., Arbogast, R.T., Teal, P.E. 2010. Monitoring Aethina tumida (Coleoptera:Nitidulidae) with baited bottom board traps: occurrence and seasonal abundance in honey bee colonies in Kenya. Environmental Entomology. 39(6):1731-1736.

Interpretive Summary: The small hive beetle is a native of Africa where it is considered a minor pest of honey bees, and until recently it was thought to be limited to that continent. However, it was detected in Florida in 1998, and by 2004 it had spread to 30 states. It now poses a major threat to the beekeeping industry of the United States. The beetle enters bee hives where it lays eggs and multiplies rapidly, feeding on pollen, honey, and honey bee brood. It contaminates pollen and honey, causing fermentation and eventually destroys the hive. ARS scientists at the Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) in Gainesville, Florida are collaborating with scientists at the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Nairobi, Kenya to develop better methods for monitoring the pest and to learn how climatic and other physical factors as well as biological factors affect its abundance. Trapping studies in Kenya showed that the beetle is present in hives year round, but is most abundant during the rainy season. Another study showed that moist soil favors survival of the larvae, which enter the soil for transformation to the adult stage. This information will be of use to scientists in both the Kenya and the United States in developing better non-pesticide methods for managing the pest, and these methods will directly benefit bee keepers.

Technical Abstract: The attraction of the honey bee pest Aethina tumida Murray to kairomones is well documented. Adults of the beetle can be monitored with flight and Langstroth hive bottom board traps baited with a food lure consisting of pollen dough inoculated with the yeast Kodamaea ohmeri associated with the beetle. We used the baited bottom board traps to monitor the occurrence and seasonal abundance of the beetle in honey bee colonies at two beekeeping locations in Kenya. Trap captures indicated that the beetle was present in honey bee colonies in low numbers year round, but was most abundant during the rainy season, with over 80% trapped during that period. Field studies with released larvae and measurements of soil moisture content showed that larval survival was favored by moist soil. The ant Pheidole megacephala was identified as a key predator of larvae at the site used for the experiment and was most active during the dry season. These observations suggest that intensive trapping during the rainy season could reduce the numbers of beetles infesting hives in subsequent seasons.