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Proceedings of the 37th International Apicultural Congress, 28 October 1 November 2001, Durban, South Africa
APIMONDIA 2001
ISBN: 0-620-27768-8
To be referenced as: Proc. 37th Int. Apic. Congr., 28 Oct 1 Nov 2001, Durban, South Africa
Produced by: Document Transformation Technologies
Organised by: Conference Planners
With both bee subspecies, behavior toward the introduced beetle or pin was quite clear. The
Cape honey bee exhibited significantly more instances of contacting and attacking the beetle or pin,
compared to the Western bee subspecies, which exhibited significantly more instances of ignoring
the beetle or pin within the 15 minute observation period. The African subspecies immediately
began attacks upon the beetle or pin, grasping and attempting to sting the introduced object.
Western honey bees exhibited little of this activity, instead spending most of their time in general
undirected movement within the assay cages.
Such comparative lack of aggression of Western honey bees and demonstrated higher
aggression of African honey bees may explain the economic status of the small hive beetle in its
native and introduced ranges. Beekeepers in the U.S. report that they rarely see managed honey
bees aggressively defending the colony against beetle attack, whereas beekeepers in South Africa
commonly observe managed Cape honey bees attacking and isolating small hive beetles when they
occur in bee colonies. It is important to note, however, that the small hive beetle can cause
economic damage in South Africa to honey frames removed from colonies and stored for later
extraction, particularly if any brood is present in frames. This further underscores that the behavior
of the adult bees within the hive may play a significant role in protecting brood and colony
products, which is not the case when frames are removed from the colony and thus without
protection.