Individual study: Control of small hive beetles Aethina tumida during shipment of honey bees Apis mellifera; experiments at the Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco, Texas, USA
Baxter J.R., Elzen P.J., Westervelt D., Causey D., Randall C., Eischens F.A. & Wilson W.T. (1999) Control of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida in package bees. American Bee Journal, 139, 792-793
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Prevent spread of the small hive beetle
In a replicated, controlled trial, Baxter et al. (1999) tested methods to control the spread of small hive beetle in packages for transporting honey bees Apis mellifera for the beekeeping industry in Texas, USA. They placed 'Checkmite strips' (containing the organophosphate coumaphos) in various positions inside or on the packages and intentionally introduced ten or twenty adult beetles. More than half the beetles escaped from the packages through a ventilation panel and were not trapped or recovered. A Checkmite strip hanging in the middle of the package killed 94% of the remaining beetles. Beetles were not lured out of the packages by light traps.