The bee beast places Sergipe honey chain on alert

It attacks the bee colonies, damages the combs, and compromises all the honey. This is the Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida), a pest that originated in sub-Saharan Africa and reached the United States and Mexico before entering Brazil, in 2016, in the state of São Paulo. Now, however, the damage to the northeastern honey production chain, of which Piauí is the largest exponent, may be greater, since the insect has been recorded in the Bahian municipalities of Conde and Jandaíra, on the border with Sergipe, a state that produces about 160 tons of honey per year, with an expectation of increasing to 250 tons in the near future. The director of the Sergipe Agricultural Development Company (Emdagro), Aparecida Andrade, emphasizes that the Hive Beetle feeds on honey, pollen, and brood, promoting the fermentation of honey and the destruction of the combs. Severe infestations of these pests can lead to the weakening and even the abandonment of the colony by the bees. According to ...