Traps to control the Small Hive Beetle in Belize

OIRSA has partnered with the Ministry of Education to combat an invasive pest in the north. Beekeepers in Corozal and Orange Walk will get much needed help in the form of traps to control the presence of the small hive beetle. It is a pest that is native to the African region but made its way to this part of the world by way of the U.S.A. and other neighboring countries. If left uncontrolled, it can decimate bee colonies, so local partners are acting now to try and control this pest. Reporter Andrea Polanco tells us more.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

On Friday the Office of Institutional Research and Student Assessment handed over six hundred small hive beetle traps to the Ministry of Agriculture. The traps will help to control this beetle that affects honey bee hives. Andrew Harrison of the Ministry of Agriculture says the pest has been recorded in northern Belize.

Andrew Harrison, Chief Agriculture Office, Ministry of Agriculture

Andrew Harrison

“These traps will be used mainly up north. We did a survey last year and found out that the small hive beetle is present in the north, probably coming from our border country of Mexico.”

Reporter

“Sir, talk to us about these beetles and how the impact the bee-hive?”

Andrew Harrison

“The small hive beetle live inside the hive and they feed on the bee itself and eventually claim the bee. So, if the bee dies then we don’t have the honey. So, with these traps we will try to control the population of the small hive beetle so that on the long terms we have a more fruitful honey industry.”

The small-hive beetle is destructive and difficult to eradicate. If this invasive pest is not controlled, it can create problems for honey bee colonies and bad business for local honey production.

Miguel Depaz

Miguel Depaz, Chief Vet Officer, BAHA

“This beetle is very hard to eradicate and therefore you have to implement various control measures and one of the control measures is applying the trap. However there are other measures which we are working on for the farmers to know how to manage their hives and its also difficult to eradicate because the beetle does not only feed or reproduce at the hive. But it finds fruit that are fermented and it can produce there. So it is a very difficult beetle to eradicate. And we have to learn how to live with the beetle.”

Harrison says that Corozal recorded the highest infestation of the pest, followed by Orange Walk. There are no reported infestations in the rest of the country. So, the Ministry of Agriculture will be working with bee farmers in the north to set up the traps to try and control the pest.  About ten years ago, the honey industry was booming, but it came under attack from other pests which cut the exports impacted the honey production business. Today, Harrison says this is the first time the traps are being used in country, so they hope it will help this already fragile industry.

Andrew Harrison

“The traps are sent inside the hives – on the bottom. It has a small opening where the small hive beetle walks in and when it walks through that it has the chemical inside that has an impact on the beetle. We have already managed try and work with the Africanized bees and we managed the varoa mite and now with this pest right now it is another one. The hope is that the industry will pick up and will be able to supply our local demand and eventually do export again.”

The six-hundred traps cost close to six thousand dollars. OIRSA says the beetles have been recorded in Mexico, Belize and El Salvador.

Fermin Blanco

Fermin Blanco, Country Representative, Belize

“Since it appeared in Central America OIRSA has been assisting El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize in the implementation of the control of this pest and also we are proactive that we try to advise the ministries of the preventative measures and control. But now since it is here we work along with the ministry for the control of this pest. So in 2017 we assisted the industry in funding the assessment of this pest. So this is how we know where the pest are located in Belize.”

Andrew Harrison says that they expect to start setting traps within the next few weeks. The Ministry will be monitoring them and by the end of the year they will know just how effective it has been to control the small-hive beetle.

Andrea Polanco reporting for News Five.