New Honey Bee Pest Confirmed in the U.S.

[BeeMaster2]

In 2015 the California Department of Food and Agriculture published a pest rating proposal for the Australian beetle Brachypeplus basalis, which had been discovered in beehives in four California counties, the earliest discovery taking place in 2010. This CDFA report (Leathers 2015) observed that the beetle had not been collected outside of beehives. Then, in 2013, a report from Montana State University (Schutter Diagnostics Laboratory Annual Report 2013) noted the presence of B. basalis in a sample submitted by a Montana beekeeper. In 2015 and 2016 the beetle was identified infesting stored bee equipment in two separate Oregon beekeeping operations. The 2015 sighting constitutes the first record of a B. basalis infestation (in bee boxes with frames stored outside) in Oregon. A scientific manuscript pertaining to this sighting is currently under review. A commercial beekeeper of about 8,000 colonies discovered the 2016 infestation in a portion of his stored beekeeping equipment, especially combs containing pollen and/or honey. He estimates that during the summer of 2016 he destroyed $20,000 worth of beetle infested combs. As yet, the beetle has not been documented in active honey bee colonies in Oregon. ...

[Michael Bush]

So this is some kind of "sap beetle"?  Since that's what I'm finding, I assume it is also not an obligate parasite of honey bees, which makes it even harder to control...

[BeeMaster2]

Michael,
Even our SHB's are not dependent on the honey bees to reproduce.
Jim

[Michael Bush]

>Even our SHB's are not dependent on the honey bees to reproduce.

Correct.  They reproduce just fine on rotting fruit.  And that is one of the reasons they are very hard to control.

[tjc1]

Aarrgghh - I didn't know that... I thought that the name indicated they were  specific to hive conditions.