Small Hive Beetle update

[Jon]

I remember Michael Palmer posting on BKF that mini nucs were likely to have problems with SHB

[prakel]

I remember Michael Palmer posting on BKF that mini nucs were likely to have problems with SHB

Although he appears to have no issues himself (I might be wrong of course) so I wonder whether that's his climate and location protecting him or if it's his larger-than-mini mating nucs.

[Bumble]

Although he appears to have no issues himself (I might be wrong of course) so I wonder whether that's his climate and location protecting him or if it's his larger-than-mini mating nucs.

I went to one of his talks when he was over here last year and somebody asked him about SHB. I think he said he can tell when somebody gets a package of bees from Texas, or some such place further south, because he sees SHB but they don't overwinter because it's so cold and snowy.

[Jon]

Yes, that's exactly what he said at the talk I attended. He keeps his bees near the Canadian border so it's far too cold for SHB to overwinter.

[prakel]

Yes, he's stated the same on the net, but any inability to overwinter has nothing to do with the ability of the beetles, if imported early enough, to cause damage. The potential can be seen here, in a report from Canada:

First Small Hive Beetle Infestation With Larvae Found In B.C.

British Columbia has had its first case of an infestation of small hive beetle, complete with viable larvae.
The infestation was discovered in one of five nucleus hives in an apiary in south-west Abbotsford. All of the hives were deadouts without bees, Paul van Westendorp, the provincial apiculturist, said in an advisory issued Tuesday. (See below.)
In four of the boxes he found about 10 adult beetles. But in a fifth there was a complete colony with about 20 adult beetles and a frame and a half of larvae in various stages.
van Westendorp made the positive identification on Monday, just two weeks after the provincial government lifted a quarantine order for the Fraser Valley to help expedite the movement of thousands of colonies from Alberta for overwintering.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...rWXxpX5UId92-Q

Hony Bee Zen 2015

The latest is a find this April:

Small Hive Beetle Found in B.C

But this find marks a potentially serious escalation in the arrival of small hive beetle in B.C. This is April, earlier than the animal’s normal reproductive period. It would seem to suggest the beetle was an overwintering adult, unless he was picked up from an imported package or from a fruit importer. It is not clear how this one beetle got to Maple Ridge.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...F8KujVfS1ml9GA

Hony Bee Zen 2016

On the subject of Canada, there are a few interesting leaflets such as these two:

Best Management and Biosecurity Practices

http://www.ontariobee.com/sites/onta...0EN%20copy.pdf

Guidelines for the Movement of Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Positive Honey Bee Colonies in Ontario

http://www.ontariobee.com/sites/onta...FINAL%20EN.pdf

Edit: fixed link.

[prakel]

Just to round things up a little, my interest here remains in the potential of damage to small mating nucs and at what size they may become viable units able to defend themselves in an area with SHB actively trying to multiply.

[gavin]

Jamie Ellis also mentioned the vulnerability of mating nucs to SHB in one of his talks.

All this casual chat of folk believing that climate is a constraint to SHB spread worries me. We really don't know what limits SHB and how this may operate in new areas. Is it a need for summer heat or is it a need for a lack of winter cold? Or is it something else?

What we know from experimental work is that they *can* complete the pupal phase at temperatures which occur through much of the year in parts of Scotland and all year in parts of S England. We also know that they prefer damp soil rather than dry soil.

These are the reasons for wanting to keep it out. It might be true that it will not thrive anywhere in the UK, but we don't know that is true.