Marc Oliver Schäfer & Noa Simon-Delso

Possible paths for scientific research and field tests

© Schäfer

© Schäfer

Outline

Biology and ethology of the small hive beetle:

• Reproduction• Dispersal• Adaptation to Europe

Surveillance and control measures:

• Efficacy of in-hive traps• Traps outside the colonies• Sentinel• Natural enemies• PCR field test• Non-invasive monitoring techniques

Socio-economic implications of the small hive beetle:

• Recommendations of responsibilities• Collaborative approaches • Evaluation of support schemes

Triggers for SHB reproduction

© Schäfer © Schäfer© Schäfer

• Not much is known about opportunities for SHBs to take a chance to reproduce.• Mass reproduction seems to be comparatively rare. • We discuss a “sit and wait” strategy of SHB, as we see that problems occur

under limited conditions or after the beekeeper has worked on the colonies.

But what are the factors that govern mass reproduction:

● bee / comb ratio ● management ● honey bee subspecies ● other factors

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Triggers for SHB reproductionreproductive options

● Mass reproduction ● Cryptic reproduction● Reproduction on alternative food sources● Reproduction on alternative hosts ?

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

© Schäfer © Neumann © Mürrle © Neumann

Natural dispersal of Aethina tumida

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

= established populations

= reported introductions

= natural distribution

19962000

2001

2005

2004

2002

2004

2012

20102013

2006

2007

2007

2014

2014

2008

20142015

2008

2015

2016

Natural dispersal of Aethina tumida

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

How far can SHB fly and when do they fly?

• Adult SHBs are capable of flying several kilometers, but not a single study has systematically addressed this matter and therefore it is unknown how far SHBs could actually fly within a given time period. It has been stated (Wenning, 2001) that SHBs are able to detect colonies that are under stress (e.g. due to disease or management techniques such as splitting) from a distance of about 13–16 km.

• It has been reported that SHB males tend to fly earlier than females (Neumann and Elzen 2004), but this was not found in Australia and Africa (Spiewok and Neumann 2012). Annand (2011) found that the majority of movements into and out of the hives was the two hours prior to nightfall.

Which factors govern dispersal has to be studied in more detail:

• Host cues? (which exactly) • Beetle derived cues? (pheromones)

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Number of months in 2014 with an average of ≥ 20°C and 50% RH

Is Aethina tumida well suited for Europe?

© FLI

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Is Aethina tumida well suited for Europe?Number of months in 2015 with an average of ≥ 20°C and 50% RH

© FLI

Is Aethina tumida well suited for Europe?

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

August 2014

© FLI

BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Is Aethina tumida well suited for Europe?August 2015

© FLI

Freeman SHB TrapTM

West SHB TrapTM

© Freeman

© Freeman

© Spiewok © beetltra.com.au

BEETLTRATM

Efficacy of in-hive traps

Mean number of adult SHB ± standard error from variation captured In the three SHB traps during 13 sampling periods in Pickens Country, South Carolina, United States, May – November 2010. Different letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).

© Peterson (2012), All Theses, Clemson University

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

Efficacy of in-hive traps

© beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com

© suburbanrancher.wordpress.com

© thebunyipbeekeeper.com.au© Schäfer

AJ‘s Beetle EaterTM Better Beetle BlasterTM

Baitable Beetle JailTM

© apicolturangrisani.it

Aethina StopTM

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

© J. D. Ellis

Beetle BarnTM

© Rossman Apiaries © beehivejournal.blogspot.com

ApithorTM

Bee SaveTM

Apis Beetle TrapTM

© termseal.com.au© G. W. Levot © Mahako Bees

Fipronil

DIY

© Terry Brown

© Springer Verlag 2007: Neumann & Hoffmann J Pest Sci (2008) 81:43–48; DOI 10.1007/s10340-007-0183-8

© 2012 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

Efficacy of in-hive traps

Alternatives?

Efficacy of in-hive traps

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

AJ‘s Beetle EaterTM

Better Beetle BlasterTM

© Diana Leemon© Freeman

Freeman SHB TrapTM

© wholefedhomestead.com

© suburbanrancher.wordpress.com

Sentinel colonies

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

© wholefedhomestead.com

• Where to place them• Size• Number of combs• Queen status• Traps• Bait• Monitoring cycle

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

Traps outside of colonies

© Loza et al., 2014 © Loza et al., 2014© Schäfer© Duehl et al., Apidologie (2012) 43:417-424; INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag, France

Would be the perfect control, but till today no bait was found to be more attractive than honey bee hives!

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

Natural enemies

17

© Schäfer© Schäfer

Steinernema carpocapsae

© Cuthbertson et al., Insects 2012, 3, 719-726

Susceptibility was shown to entomopathogenic nematodes (de Guzman et al., 2009; Cabanillas and Elzen, 2006; Ellis et al., 2010; Shapiro-Ilan et al., 2010; Cuthbertson et al., 2012)Isolates of both Metarhizium & Beauveria showed good efficacy against SHBs in laboratory and field assays (Leemon and McMahon, 2009; Leemon, 2012)

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

Debris PCR field test

• qPCR can be used to screen hive debris for the presence of SHB which would be the perfect monitoring tool

If used for eradication, hive debris qPCR should be combined with visual inspections, as false positive results must be excluded!

• Anyway, this molecular method requires sophisticated equipment, trained personnel and the experimental setup has to be validated and in-house and inter-laboratory comparative tests should be accomplished to ensure the accuracy of results. The limited knowledge of the SHB genome currently constrains the full diagnostic power of molecular tools; False negative results are not unlikely, e.g. due to variable primer regions in different SHB populations

• Microsatellite loci were described (Evans et al., 2008) which have also proven useful in mapping the movement of SHB (Lounsberry et al., 2010) and more SNP resources are available (Tarver et al., 2016)

Debris PCR field test

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

© Schäfer© Schäfer

The method has to be validated in the field for monitoring at apiary level. Sensitivity must be high to exclude false negative results!

SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL MEASURES

Alternative non-invasive monitoring techniques

IoBees project - Fall 2017-2020 (Partners: IRIDEON, TEIC, Avia-GIS, Arnia, Bee Life)

• Development of sensors located at the hive registering automatically and sending information to beekeeper

• Based on bioacoustics: allows to identify insects based on their shape and movement profiles

• Involves spatial decision support systems (SDSS) for monitoring and predicting the spread of diseases/pests, and controlling diseases outbreaks. Already used in IPM

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Recommendations of responsibilities and collaboration

For an efficient control of SHB the responsibilities of the different actors and at the different levels involved in the problematic needs to be clear.

• field veterinarians• administrative veterinarians (official declaration)• beekeepers• local/regional authorities• beekeeping associations

Who has to do What and When

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

Best/Most adequate support schemes for the sector

Beekeeping sector is already affected by several burdens (environmental pressure, parasites, etc.)

The legal implications of having SHB involve yet another one

Options related to the legal framework, financial supports, implementation of the legal requirements need to be explored. Social-economic studies should be launched to assess the impact of the different measures proposed and help in decision making

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE

How to build collaborative approaches to soften the expansion of Aethina tumida?

(Pro)Active exchange platform

Different levels:

• local• (regional)• national• European

Other?

Key question

What are the field priorities in Europe?

Marc Oliver Schäfer; NRL for Bee Diseases

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut • FLI•Federal Institute for Animal Health

Südufer 10 | 17493 Greifswald - Insel RiemsGERMANY; Tel: +49 38351 7 1246http://www.fli.de/index.php?id=251

To be continued…Thank you!

Noa Simon-Delso

CARI

simon@cari.be+32 10473416

© Schäfer