Small Hive Beetle

3D Model

An invasive species first spotted in the USA in 1996, the Small Hive Beetle larvae burrow through bee honey combs, damaging the comb and polluting the honey with feces. If a comb is heavily infested, the bees may abandon the hive and collapse even otherwise strong colonies.

Reference macro photography provided by Chris Hedstrom, an entomologist and a biological control specialist at the Oregon Department of Agriculture.