A two year national surveillance for Aethina tumida reflects its absence in Spain

BACKGROUND: The Small Hive Beetle (SHB) is considered one of the major threats to the long-term sustainability and economic success of honey bee colonies in Europe. The risk of introduction into the EU had been reported as moderate to high. Indeed, it has been recently reported an outbreak in the south of Italy. Here, the presence of Aethina tumida in beekeeping farms in Spain was evaluated using a previously described qPCR protocol. FINDINGS: When hive debris from 398 colonies (collected in 2010 and 2011) was analysed, grouped by region, SHB were not detected in any of the samples, making it unnecessary to analyse the samples individually. CONCLUSION: The SHB free-status is shown. This epidemiological surveillance would appear to be useful to detect the possible future entry of this pathogen.