Two years on, Karnataka beekeepers continue to face threat from small hive beetle

Around 800 colonies of honey bees were destroyed in a span of 25 days due to the attack of the small hive beetle, recently. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Two years after the small hive beetle’s attack on the apiculture industry in Karnataka, the problem continues to persist with the solution yet to be found. Around 800 colonies of honey bees were destroyed in a span of 25 days due to the attack of the small hive beetle, recently.

Researchers and professors at the University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore (UAS-B), GKVK, have identified the small hive beetle as a destructive, invasive scavenger that attacks honey bee colonies, bees, honey and pollen.

Speaking to The Hindu, K.T. Vijayakumar, principal investigator (PI) and head of the Department of Apiculture at UAS-B, GKVK, explained, “The attack on bees and their colonies by this invasive scavenger insect has doubled over a period of two to three years in apiculture farms located in plains. The insect was originally found in America. In Asia, it was first found in China, followed by Bangladesh. From Bangladesh, it travelled to West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and finally to Karnataka and the surrounding States.”