SHB and American Foulbrood

[JWPick]

Not sure if this has been discussed before but, at a recent Beek Conference, we learned that SHB larvae can/will retain the AFB virus if they were hatched with in a hive that had AFB virus. It was also mentioned that when they pupate into adults and begin roaming around hives (most likely the one they were hatched in or the ones next to it) that they could/would spread the AFB virus. We learned a lot about the SHB from several of the experts present. Dr. Teal of the Gainesville, FL Chemistry Unit was very educational. He also presented some of their findings and traps with bait that they have been working on as well as a larvae trap that is attached to the front of the hive. "Larvae can't jump" so they fall directly into the trap which is filled with soapy water or oil. The bait was also very interesting in regards to attracting SHB. You can find his site on the internet to contact him or members of his team to ask questions or even give them your experiences and ideas. He also mentioned that SHB do not necessarily require bees in order to survive. They have discovered that SHB can survive on such things as fruit also. They are also working on light wavelengths that the SHB seem to be attracted to. We were also told that the best results were obtained by including traps and baits with traps due to disrupting the entire life cycle of the SHB. It was a wonderful conference!

[asprince]

Do you have a web site address?

Thanks for the information,

Steve

[JWPick]

sure:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/aboutus/aboutus.htm


Peter E a Teal
Chemistry Research Unit
Research Leader
Peter.Teal@ars.usda.gov
Phone: (352) 374-5730
Fax: (352) 374-5707
1600-1700 SW 23RD DRIVE
GAINESVILLE, FL, 32608

try these links

here's a link that says a little about the trap & bait:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_10_55/ai_n27450406/

when you go to the usda site check out the "news" section also, it discusses the beetle and varroa mite