Small Hive Beetle, Aethina tumida, in Africanized Honey Bees in Costa Rica: Sentinel Apiaries, Epidemiological Surveillance and Training Programs as Strategies for Early Detection or to Prevent Its Spread

Abstract

Introduction The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is a parasite and scavenger of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies endemic to sub-Saharan Africa (Hepburn & Radloff, 1998). It has become an invasive species with well-established populations in North America and Australia (Neumann & Ellis, 2008). In 1996, SHBs were discovered in colonies of European subspecies of honey bees in the southeastern USA (Elzen et al., 1999). SHBs cause considerable economic damage to apiculture in the USA (Hood, 2004; Neumann & Elzen, 2004) and Australia (Spiewok et al., 2007).