Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida Murray, 1867) (SHB) is one of the important pests of bee keeping industry. This species is endemic in sub-Saharan region of Africa that has recently became an invasive and distributing rapidly throughout the world. Recent detections of SHB in Philippines, Brazil and South Korea indicate that SHB has the potential to become a global pest for apiculture and wild bees. Having enough knowledge about the population source of invasion can help understand the pest ecology and develop the control tactics. SHB has invaded to South Korea in 2017 and cause heavy damage to apiaries in Miryang City, in south-eastern part of Korea and the origin of this pest is still unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the phylogenetic position and origin of Korean population of SHB. We sampled the SHB from different bee hives in Miryang city and used 922 bp part of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) region of mitochondrial DNA to compare with all previously reported COI sequences of SHB. The result showed that the population of SHB in south Korea is classified with South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Canada, Australia and USA populations in one clade and among them, the lowest genetic distance between South Korean and USA populations indicated that most likely the SHB was imported from the United states to South Korea. No genetic difference has been detected between studied sequences from Korean population indicating that the invasion would had happen in one occasion.

Small hive beetles (SHBs) are parasites of bee colonies and is one of the invasive pest species worldwide. In this study, we aimed to investigate a chemical responsible for the attractiveness of a hive to this pest. Based on the laboratory observation, we found the fermented pollen dough (honey bee food) was highly attractive to adult SHBs. Olfactometer bioassay showed the crude methanol extract of this material is attractive to both sexes (> 60%). However, the methanol extracts of fresh honey and pollen patty which we used as a food of SHB were not attractive to the pest. The crude methanol extract of fermented pollen dough was subjected to partitioning with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. The n-hexane and chloroform fractions were attractive > 80% for both sex SHBs. On the other hand, ethyl acetate and n-butanol were repulsive >70% and >80%, respectively. The wandering larvae of the pest showed a reverse response for the solvent fractions observed in adults. HPLC and GC-MS analysis indicated the methanol extract of fermented pollen dough constitute butanoic acid (7.70%), neopentylamine (7.29%), (E)-9-octadecenoic acid ethyl ester (3.89%) and hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester. While these compounds were not found even in a trace level in the methanol extract of honey and pollen patty. Based on this findings these constituents of the fermented pollen dough were formed by the action of SHB and its larvae and we believe these volatile organic compounds are responsible for attractiveness to SHB as pollen dough undergoes attach by SHB and ferment. We are working on investigating attractiveness of each of these chemicals toward the pest. We recommend further work on these chemicals for their application to control this pest.

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) (SHB) is an invasive species to most northern hemisphere countries, including Korea. In an attempt to obtain basic information for efficient management of SHB, genes encoding conventional insecticide targets [voltage-sensitive sodium channel α-subunit (VSSC) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)] were annotated and characterized following the analysis of whole transcriptomes of adults and larvae. A single VSSC gene was identified but no apparent mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance were detected. Genes encoding two AChEs (AtAChE1 and AtAChE2) were identified from the SHB transcriptome. AtAChE1 was determined to be the main catalytic enzyme, thereby being a toxicologically more relevant target. No apparent mutations associated with resistance to organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides was identified in the AtAChE1 gene, whereas the S238G mutation, originally identified from the Colorado potato beetle, was detected in the AtAChE2 gene.

The potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is a ubiquitous pest on potatoes, tobacco, tomato and othercrops. The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray, is a pest of European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in severalcountries in the world. Propolis is a balm-like substance collected from plants by bees. Its chemical composition variesand depends mainly on the flora in the region in which it is collected as well as the bee species. Hitherto biologicalproperties and the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from propolis of Korean origin are unknown. Inthis study, while searching for an environmentally friendly method to control these pests we evaluated the repellent effectsof essential oil of propolis collected from Bee Lab of Andong National University and found that it possess repellentactivity against both small hive beetle and potato tuber moth. Moreover, a total of 171 constituents of the oil were identifiedof which 6 were major compounds using GC/MS analysis. We also compared the chemical composition of this oil withthose from 2 Ethiopian regions.

The Small hive beetle, Aethina tumida (Murray, A. 1867) (commonly abbreviated to SHB), is one of notifiable pest in the world. SHB were confirmed in the southeastern United States in 1998 in a apiary in Florida. The SHB also was found in Korea in 2016. The SHB larvae have relatively large heads and numerous protuberances covering their bodies. Upon full maturation, larvae have reached a length of 10 mm. Adult females are length and width of ± 5.5 mm and ± 3.4 mm. Naturally occurring small hive beetles can vary greatly in size, possibly depending on diet, climate, and other environmental factors. Additionally, we were analyzed the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene of the SHBs. The sequence of the COI gene of SHB was identical to that of SHBs in Korea, but different by fourteen positions from Italy.