Development and improvement of control methods for small hive beetles

    Project: Research

    Project Details

    Description

    Small hive beetles are major pests of honeybees. Larvae and adults have devastating effect on hives by eating bee eggs, brood, stored pollen, and honey. Small hive beetles were first discovered in west Sydney in 2002 and, while a plethora of control methods have been proposed, none of them have been efficient enough to control beetle populations. In this proposal, we will implement the design of beetle traps and develop different attractants for adults to aggregate in traps and lay eggs. This dual approach would allow to reduce the number of adults as well as larvae in hives. We will only test natural attractants used by beetles to aggregate or locate good oviposition sites. Field trials will be run in NSW and data communicated to the community.
    Short titleSmall Hive Beetles
    StatusFinished
    Effective start/end date1/07/2130/06/23