Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Bad News: Small Hive Beetle Confirmed in Ontario

Here's a copy of an email received today from our Tech Transfer Team who work for the Ontario Bee Association (OBA):

"Good Day Beekeepers

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) has been confirmed in Southern Ontario.
It was first discovered on Sept 8, 2010 and confirmed this week by Ag Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been alerted of the find. Small Hive Beetle is an immediate notifiable disease that must be reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) upon official verification. The CFIA has made every indication that this is a provincial matter and the responsibility of the province to address this issue.

At present the Small Hive Beetle confirmed cases are all in Essex County, close to the Michigan border.
Small Hive Beetle have NOT been confirmed anywhere else in Ontario.

The apiculture program, through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, is conducting inspection and surveillance for Small Hive Beetle in Ontario to determine the extent of SHB distribution. An identification guide will be available in the near future.

Further information regarding Small Hive Beetle will be available in the next issue of the Ontario Bee Journal."

3 comments:

İlhami Uyar said...

I dont know and I m curuosity,what is the reason those harmfull insects devolopping and growing,of course there is a reason.I hope this bad situatıon solved as soon as possible.Otherways this insect will be give big damages all hives.I send best wishes with my love.Stay well.

Ramil said...

I hope they eliminate it as fast as they can so it wont spread and be harmful to others.

Bee Magic Chronicles for Kids said...

İlhami Uyar and Ramil: I hope we can eliminate this terrible pest.
It was first found in Florida USA in 1998, but no one knows how it got to North America. The Hive Beetle is originally from Africa.

It has now spread from Florida up to the Canadian border. It appears it can even survive our cold winter.

I will research and post more information about this pest.

Thank you for your good wishes.