Exploring larva-synthesized attractants for managing small hive beetles, Aethina tumida: Implications for honeybee health

The small hive beetle (SHB) (Aethina tumida Murray), native to sub-Saharan Africa, is an invasive pest of honey bees (Apis mellifera), spreading beyond its native range to nearly all continents, including North and South America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. The feeding activities of SHBs, particularly the larvae, lead to the fermentation of hive products, stress to the colony, and bees either absconding from the colony or long-term colony depopulation and death. Chemical control, the primary strategy employed for managing SHB, has not proven sustainable due to health concerns for both honey bees and humans. Benign strategies, such as using semiochemicals, are needed. By utilizing solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and solvent body wash techniques, pheromones were collected from SHB larvae and analyzed using coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Our GC-MS results indicate that the chemical profiles of the SHB larvae are dominated by hydrocarbons, ketones, fatty acids, and esters. Ongoing work using electroantennogram (EAG) and olfactometer assays will identify the behavior-modifying chemicals, their ecological impact, and their implications for use in the integrated management of SHB without compromising the health of honey bees.