Response of the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) to honey bee (Apis mellifera) and beehive-produced volatiles

The response of male and female Small Hive Beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida, to air-borne volatiles from adult worker bees, ( Apis mellifera), pollen, unripe honey, beeswax, wax by-products ("slumgum"), and bee brood, was investigated in olfactometric and flight-tunnel choice bioassays. In both bioassay systems, males and females responded strongly to the volatiles from worker bees, freshly collected pollen and slumgum but not to those from commercially available pollen, beeswax and bee brood. The response to pollen volatiles was dose dependent, while response to volatiles from worker bees increased with both the number and age of the bees. Females were more responsive than males to the different volatile sources, with greater response in tests with unripe honey. In flight-tunnel choice tests, Super Q-trapped volatiles from worker bees elicited a response comparable to the response to living workers, while trapped volatiles from other sources were not attractive.