Note: Recording of some beetles in honey bee colonies

Abstract

Honey bees are very valuable to human. These social insects contribute in the pollination of many crops. Also, the products from honey bee colonies have many nutritional and medicinal benefits. Thus, keeping honey bees are very valuable and can be considered as source of income to many families. There are many diseases and pests that attack honey bee colonies. The pests attack bee colonies include: hornets, wax moths, bee-eater birds, and beetles. Such challenges can impact the survival and productivity of honey bee colonies. In this study, some beetle species belong to Fam. Nitidulidae, Dermestidae and Mycetophagidae were detected in honey bee colonies in Egypt, during spring. Despite the presence of many beetle species in the agricultural environment, only few species preferred the invasion of the colonies for feeding. These beetles do not attack stages of honey bees. They only feed on stored pollen or bee bread, especially those fallen on the bottom of the beehives. This is an alarm to follow the feeding behavior and distribution of these beetles. These beetles’ species can be considered as potential pests to weak honey bee colonies, housed in old or damaged beehives. The presence of large numbers of these beetles in weak colonies may disturb the activities of the bees and may passively impact the survival of the colonies. Listing these beetles is very important to better understanding the interaction between honey bees and beetles. On the other side, small hive beetles were not detected in the colonies. These beetles are currently one of the major problems facing honey bees in different parts of the world. This study confirms the absence of small hive beetles from Egypt.