<p>Bengaluru: Apiculture in India is staring at a new threat in the form of the small hive beetle (SHB), an invasive species native to sub-Saharan Africa, which has now been detected in Karnataka, after devastating apiaries in at least five other states.</p>.<p>India’s apiculture, which is recovering from the havoc caused by the Thai Sac-Brood virus, produces about 1.46 lakh tonnes of honey as per the 2023-24 estimate of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.</p>.<p>K M Kumaranag, an entomologist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, said the first case of SHB infestation was reported by a beekeeper in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.</p>.<p>“We suspect that the pest entered India through Bangladesh. Since then, the infestation has been reported from Assam and Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and now Karnataka,” he said.</p>.<p>Over the last 12 months, scientists searched in 13 districts and found SHB infestation in Mysuru, Bengaluru and Chamarajanagar.</p>.<p>The scientist, who published a paper along with nine others recently, said the losses in some of the colonies were worrying. While some of the beekeepers reported a loss of 10% to 20% of colonies, there were others who complained that all 50% or even 100% lost.</p>.<p>Apis cerana, known as the Asian honeybee or ‘Tudavi’ in Kannada and Apis mellifera (European honeybee) have become the easy target of the SHB. While Tudavi, proposed as a state honey bee, abandons the colony, mellifera broods are destroyed within the colony.</p>.Dozens of live beetles found in Japanese snacks during customs check at LAX.<p>In Karnataka, K T Vijayakumar, scientist and scheme head, AICRP on Honey Bees and Pollinators at the University of Agricultural Sciences.</p>.<p>“We are now studying the biology of the beetle, which empties an entire cell in one or two minutes during the grub (larvae) stage. Once the mouth part is developed, they will start consuming the pollen, the brood of the bees and the wax.</p>.<p>At the IARI, Kumaranag and others have now begun quantifying the loss. “From the cases we know, about 600 kg of honey from Apis mellifera and 200 of honey from Apis cerana is lost already. However, that is a conservative estimate. We have begun an estimate across the state,” he said.</p>.<p>Besides the direct loss, the feeding activity by SHB and its waste leads to fermentation of the honey and causes the complete collapse of the colony.</p>.<p>Vijaykumar said a crisis can be averted through immediate quarantine measures and stopping the import of colonies from states with confirmed cases of SHB infestation.</p>.<p>Sources said the entomologists submitted a report to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, but no advisory has been issued. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: Apiculture in India is staring at a new threat in the form of the small hive beetle (SHB), an invasive species native to sub-Saharan Africa, which has now been detected in Karnataka, after devastating apiaries in at least five other states.</p>.<p>India’s apiculture, which is recovering from the havoc caused by the Thai Sac-Brood virus, produces about 1.46 lakh tonnes of honey as per the 2023-24 estimate of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.</p>.<p>K M Kumaranag, an entomologist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, said the first case of SHB infestation was reported by a beekeeper in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.</p>.<p>“We suspect that the pest entered India through Bangladesh. Since then, the infestation has been reported from Assam and Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and now Karnataka,” he said.</p>.<p>Over the last 12 months, scientists searched in 13 districts and found SHB infestation in Mysuru, Bengaluru and Chamarajanagar.</p>.<p>The scientist, who published a paper along with nine others recently, said the losses in some of the colonies were worrying. While some of the beekeepers reported a loss of 10% to 20% of colonies, there were others who complained that all 50% or even 100% lost.</p>.<p>Apis cerana, known as the Asian honeybee or ‘Tudavi’ in Kannada and Apis mellifera (European honeybee) have become the easy target of the SHB. While Tudavi, proposed as a state honey bee, abandons the colony, mellifera broods are destroyed within the colony.</p>.Dozens of live beetles found in Japanese snacks during customs check at LAX.<p>In Karnataka, K T Vijayakumar, scientist and scheme head, AICRP on Honey Bees and Pollinators at the University of Agricultural Sciences.</p>.<p>“We are now studying the biology of the beetle, which empties an entire cell in one or two minutes during the grub (larvae) stage. Once the mouth part is developed, they will start consuming the pollen, the brood of the bees and the wax.</p>.<p>At the IARI, Kumaranag and others have now begun quantifying the loss. “From the cases we know, about 600 kg of honey from Apis mellifera and 200 of honey from Apis cerana is lost already. However, that is a conservative estimate. We have begun an estimate across the state,” he said.</p>.<p>Besides the direct loss, the feeding activity by SHB and its waste leads to fermentation of the honey and causes the complete collapse of the colony.</p>.<p>Vijaykumar said a crisis can be averted through immediate quarantine measures and stopping the import of colonies from states with confirmed cases of SHB infestation.</p>.<p>Sources said the entomologists submitted a report to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, but no advisory has been issued. </p>