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Pests and Diseases

Small Hive Beetle

Apiculture Pests and Diseases

A beetle (Aethina tumida) native to sub-Saharan Africa whose larvae tunnel through honeycomb, consuming brood, pollen and honey and contaminating remaining stores with a fermenting slime that can drive a weakened colony to abscond entirely. First found outside Africa in the United States in 1996, it has since spread to Australia, Canada, several Caribbean islands and, from 2014, southern Italy, and it is now managed as an established pest in many beekeeping regions through in-hive traps, strong colony management and soil treatment around apiaries to disrupt its pupation in the ground.

Facts
Classification
Agent Kind
Insect or Mite 1
Connections

Associated With

Western Honey Bee, Livestock

The small hive beetle is an invasive pest that damages honey bee comb, brood, and stored honey.

Caused By Agent Kind

Insect, Concepts

Entity-backed identity for the agent-kind enum value this pest or disease already carries, resolved to an agriculture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The agent-kind fact itself stays on the pest or disease unchanged.

Mite, Concepts

Entity-backed identity for the agent-kind enum value this pest or disease already carries, resolved to an agriculture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The agent-kind fact itself stays on the pest or disease unchanged.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Small Hive Beetle (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening definition paragraph
    Aethina tumida, commonly known as the small hive beetle (SHB), is a beekeeping pest. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, but has spread to many other regions, including North America, Australia, and the Philippines.
  • lead description
    A beetle (Aethina tumida) native to sub-Saharan Africa whose larvae tunnel through honeycomb, consuming brood, pollen and honey and contaminating remaining stores with a fermenting slime that can drive a weakened colony to abscond entirely.
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