Small Hive Beetle Quiz
By Dave Wilson with help from Bruce White
As a beekeeper, if you have not met Aethina tumida (small hive beetle or SHB ), it’s certain you will.
Seeing the beetle scurrying around in a hive is disconcerting. Cleaning up a hive that has been fatally damaged by SHB is an experience few will forget.
The damage to a large colony is immense, with fermenting honey and “slimed” frames in abundance. The queen will stop laying and frequently the bees will abscond.
To see how much you know, or to polish up your knowledge of SHB, take our quiz. Is each statement true or false?
- It is the larval stage of SHB that causes the damage to bee colonies. T/F?
- SHB traps that use vegetable oil will kill the beetle by drowning it. T/F?
- Queenless hives and hives with drone laying queens are more likely to be attacked by SHB. T/F?
- Hosing down comb and hives to clean them up after SHB damage is a quick and safe way of cleaning up the hive. T/F?
- Traps using lime or diatomaceous earth kill the beetle by starving it of air. T/F?
- Chemical traps like “Apithor” use Fipronil. This insecticide is well suited since it has low water solubility and low vapour pressure. T/F?
- Beekeepers with hives with a split entrance such as Parker plastic boxes often place chemical traps such as Apithor under the lid. T/F?
- Aside from bee colonies SHB will live on many other foods, such as fruit and vegetables. T/F?
- The danger times for SHB are days of high humidity and temperature. T/F?
- Permethrin can be used as a soil drench to kill SHB in the soil around bee hives but given SHB can fly up to 10 km, this may well be of little use. T/F?
- Mature larvae pupate in the hive. At this stage they cause little damage. T/F?
- Wax moth larvae and SHB larvae are quite hard to tell apart in a hive. T/F?
- Frames with minor SHB damage can be frozen to kill eggs and larvae and then placed in strong hives where the bees will recover the useful honey and clean up the damaged comb. T/F?
- Placing hives on hard rocky ground is preferable to soft sandy soil. T/F?
- After SHB damage, combs and frames can be dipped in soapy water to clean up the material. T/F?