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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Beehives being brought into New York this spring must be inspected for a South African beetle that is blamed for ruining thousands of hives in four Southern states.
The small hive beetle made its first known appearance in the Western Hemisphere on June 5, 1998, in hives in St. Lucie County, Fla. It has since been reported in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
New York's acting agriculture commissioner, Nathan Rudgers, said the beetle thrives in humid, tropical climates. It is uncertain whether the beetle would become dormant in colder northern climates, but ``we're not going to take any chances,'' Rudgers said last week.
The state Department of Agriculture and Markets is requiring that all beehives brought into New York be inspected for the beetle. The keepers of migratory bees in New York often transport their hives in the winter to Southern states, mainly Florida, and then take them back north in the spring.
The state already requires hives bound for New York to be inspected for several pests, chiefly Varroa mites and trachial mites, said agriculture department spokesman Pete Gregg.
Jim Doan of Doan's Honey Farm in Hamlin, 15 miles northwest of Rochester, said he has had his bees trucked to Florida for the winter after nearly losing his operation to Varroa mites three years ago. While initially very concerned about small hive beetles, he said he has become less so as more has become known about the pests.
Reports that the beetles alone were responsible for ruining hives don't appear to tell the whole story, Doan said. Many of those hives appear to first have been weakened by mites and then destroyed by the beetles, he said. That seems to make the beetles like wax worms, who become a threat only when the health of hives has become compromised.
It is unclear what effect the colder temperatures of New York would have on the beetles, said Doan, who has about 3,000 hives of honey bees.
``There is just not enough known about small hive beetles,'' he said. ``They should not be able to winter in the ground here, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't go up and winter in the hives.''
Honey production is estimated as a $5 million industry in New York, and there are about 72,000 colonies of bees in the state. Bees are also used to pollinate certain crops on farms in New York.
The beetles, which may have come to this country in soil from South Africa, like to eat honey and pollen and lay eggs in the honeycomb cells. Their larvae burrow into the combs of hives, causing the honey to ferment and forcing adult bees to abandon the combs. Beetles in the larval stage are the most damaging to hives, Doan said.
The beetles' hard, shiny black shells guard against the bees' stingers.