Several years ago, I was fooling around with B.t. tenebrionis (Novodor) and isolated Cry3B protein to see whether either of these caused mortality in larval or adult small hive beetle. Sadly, I abandoned the project before any conclusions could be made as to efficacy in a feed-through application system (mixed into pollen diet). In some cases, the Novodor seemed to act as a feeding stimulant. In other cases, larval mortality was observed, but it was inconsistent and unclear whether due to B.t. toxin or other microbes recovered from the insects.

So my question is, has anyone else looked into B.t. (or other microbial insecticides for that matter) as a potential control for hive beetles? What were/are your strategies for assaying the microbes or endotoxins? What kinds of results did you observe? I would like to return to this research if there is any hint of it being worthwhile (besides the few pubs on effective control in pollen beetles in lab setting).