Laboratory Rearing of Small Hive Beetles<i>Aethina Tumida</i>(Coleoptera, Nitidulidae)

Neumann, Peter; Pirk, Christian Walter Werner; Hepburn, Randall; Elzen, Patti J.; Baxter, James R.

doi:10.1080/00218839.2001.11101059

Cited by 43 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Beetle larvae feed on pollen, honey stores and brood, which are left by the bees (Neumann et al, 2001a;Ellis et al, 2002a). Also these resources are limited, especially when bees perform prepared absconding , and therefore larvae and adult beetle are competing for these.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Older workers were collected from the outer frames and freshly emerged, young workers from combs of sealed worker brood from six different queenright A. m. capensis colonies originating from swarms caught within the native range of the subspecies, which were placed in an incubator until adult emergence. Adult small hive beetles were reared in the laboratory according to standard protocols (Neumann et al, 2001a) and kept in boxes with cotton wool and sugar water ad libitum but without access to protein food prior to the experiments. All tested beetles emerged at least 14 days prior to the start of the experiment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small Hive Beetles are Facultative Predators of Adult Honey Bees

Pirk

Neumann

2013

J Insect Behav

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Fax: +27(0)123625242Foraging animals can choose to act as predators or not depending on the level of defensiveness of the potential prey. This requires prior evaluation of prey defensiveness, which can be variable, e.g. young insects are usually less able to defend themselves. Here we show that small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, which are scavengers and parasites of honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies, are facultative predators of young adult host workers. Adult female beetles mounted and attacked young workers more often than their older nestmates, indicating that the beetle is assessing the defensiveness of the host and is adjusting its behaviour accordingly.Since adult female beetles need proteins to activate their ovaries, predation on defenceless young alive host workers offers another rewarding food source, which can obviously not be exploited by beetle larvae. In conclusion, adult small hive beetles seem to be able to assess the trade-off between safety and food reward.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Hive Beetles are Facultative Predators of Adult Honey Bees

Pirk

Neumann

2013

J Insect Behav

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“…In these circumstances the beetles would have had to feed on alternative food sources, such as pollen stores. It is well established that beetles feed on pollen (Lundie, 1940;Schmolke, 1974;Elzen et al, 2000;Hood, 2000;Neumann et al, 2001b) and that they reproduce most successfully on a diet of pollen alone (Ellis et al, 2002b). In European colonies the beetles caused a significant reduction in brood area (probably by feeding and ovipositing on it and because of prepared absconding behavior by the bees) and there were no differences in the pollen stores between the treatments.…”

Section: Pollenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ten treated colonies were artificially infested with 100 adult small hive beetles on a daily basis between 17:00-21:00 h for 15 consecutive days. The small hive beetles used were reared in the laboratory according to standard procedures (Neumann et al, 2001b). By the end of the experiment, 1 500 beetles (100 beetles/colony for 15 days) had been introduced into all of the treated colonies.…”

Section: Cape Honey Beesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adult beetles were reared from larvae collected in the field. The larvae were supplemented on a diet of pollen, honey, and bee brood (Neumann et al, 2001b;Ellis et al, 2002b) until they reached the wandering phase (Lundie, 1940), after which they were transferred to soil chambers for pupation and emersion as adults. Each treated European colony cumulatively received 1 400 beetles (100 beetles/day for 14 days).…”

Section: Honey Bees Of Mixed European Originmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of adult small hive beetles, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), on nests and flight activity of Cape and European honey bees (Apis mellifera)

et al. 2003

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-This study identifies differences in the effects of small hive beetles on flight activity and nests of European-derived honey bees (Apis mellifera) in the United States and Cape honey bees (Apis mellifera capensis) in South Africa. Treatments consisted of control colonies (< 5 beetles/colony) and experimental colonies receiving beetles (treatment). Absconding day did not differ significantly between treatment or bee race but absconding was greater between the two treatments in European colonies than in Cape ones. Cape bees used significantly more propolis than European bees. Honey stores were significantly greater in Cape honey bee colonies than in European ones. Bee weight did not differ significantly between treatments or bee race. Treatment did not significantly affect bee populations, brood area, or average flight activity in Cape colonies but it did significantly lower all of these in European colonies. The effects of treatment in European colonies are symptomatic of absconding preparation. Treatment significantly lowered the amount of pollen stores in Cape colonies, but this effect was not found in European colonies. The number of beetles in control colonies was significantly higher in European colonies than Cape ones while the percentage of beetles remaining in non-absconding treated colonies was higher in Cape colonies than European ones. These data indicate that adult small hive beetles are sufficient to cause significant harmful effects on colonies of European, but not Cape, honey bees.Aethina tumida / Apis mellifera / Apis mellifera capensis / flight activity / honey bee nests

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Hit‐and‐run trophallaxis of small hive beetles

Neumann

Naef

Crewe

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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Some parasites of social insects are able to exploit the exchange of food between nestmates via trophallaxis, because they are chemically disguised as nestmates. However, a few parasites succeed in trophallactic solicitation although they are attacked by workers. The underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The small hive beetle (=SHB), Aethina tumida, is such a parasite of honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies and is able to induce trophallaxis. Here, we investigate whether SHB trophallactic solicitation is innate and affected by sex and experience. We quantified characteristics of the trophallactic solicitation in SHBs from laboratory‐reared individuals that were either bee‐naïve or had 5 days experience. The data clearly show that SHB trophallactic solicitation is innate and further suggest that it can be influenced by both experience and sex. Inexperienced SHB males begged more often than any of the other groups had longer breaks than their experienced counterparts and a longer soliciting duration than both experienced SHB males and females, suggesting that they start rather slowly and gain more from experience. Successful experienced females and males were not significantly different from each other in relation to successful trophallactic interactions, but had a significantly shorter soliciting duration compared to all other groups, except successful inexperienced females. Trophallactic solicitation success, feeding duration and begging duration were not significantly affected by either SHB sex or experience, supporting the notion that these behaviors are important for survival in host colonies. Overall, success seems to be governed by quality rather than quantity of interactions, thereby probably limiting both SHB energy investment and chance of injury (<1%). Trophallactic solicitation by SHBs is a singular example for an alternative strategy to exploit insect societies without requiring chemical disguise. Hit‐and‐run trophallaxis is an attractive test system to get an insight into trophallaxis in the social insects.

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Laboratory Rearing of Small Hive BeetlesAethina Tumida(Coleoptera, Nitidulidae)

Cited by 43 publications

References 3 publications

Small Hive Beetles are Facultative Predators of Adult Honey Bees

Small Hive Beetles are Facultative Predators of Adult Honey Bees

The effects of adult small hive beetles, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), on nests and flight activity of Cape and European honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Hit‐and‐run trophallaxis of small hive beetles

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