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Understanding the Impact of Darkling Beetles on Poultry Farming: Risks and Control Strategies

Running a poultry farm comes with its fair share of challenges, and one persistent issue is the presence of darkling beetles. These small but troublesome pests can wreak havoc on your operation—spreading diseases, devouring feed, and even damaging your barn’s insulation. While chemical pesticides have traditionally been the solution of choice, their effectiveness is waning as beetles develop resistance and concerns about environmental impact are growing.

This article explores the effects of darkling beetles on poultry farming and introduces Beauveria bassiana, a natural control method, as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides.

Understanding the Threat: Why Darkling Beetles Are a Major Concern

Darkling beetles thrive in the warm, humid environments typical of poultry barns. Their rapid reproduction can quickly turn a minor issue into a full-blown infestation.

Here’s why these beetles are particularly problematic:

• Disease Spread: Darkling beetles can carry harmful pathogens like Salmonella and Campylobacter, which spread throughout your barn, posing serious health risks to your flock.
• Feed Consumption: These beetles are notorious for consuming poultry feed, leading to increased costs and wasted resources.
• Health Risks to Birds: Young birds are especially vulnerable. They often consume the beetles themselves, which can introduce parasites and diseases into their systems.

Natural Solutions for Darkling Beetle Control: How Beauveria bassiana Can Help Your Poultry Farm

If you’re running a poultry farm, you’ve likely encountered your fair share of challenges, and darkling beetles are probably near the top of that list. These small pests can cause big problems—spreading diseases, consuming feed, and even damaging your barn’s insulation. Traditionally, chemical pesticides have been the go-to method for controlling darkling beetles, but these solutions have their downsides. Over time, beetles can develop resistance, and there are concerns about the environmental impact of these chemicals.

That’s where Beauveria bassiana comes in. This naturally occurring fungus offers a more sustainable and targeted approach to beetle control. In this post, we’ll explore how Beauveria bassiana works and why it might be the right solution for your farm.

The Problem with Darkling Beetles

Darkling beetles thrive in the warm, humid conditions of poultry barns. They reproduce quickly, and before long, you can have a significant infestation on your hands. Here’s why these beetles are such a problem:

1. Disease Transmission: Darkling beetles are known carriers of various diseases like Salmonella and Campylobacter. As they move through your barn, they can spread these pathogens to your birds, leading to potential outbreaks.
2. Feed Consumption: These beetles consume a surprising amount of poultry feed, which can drive up your costs. The more beetles you have, the more feed you’re losing.
3. Impact on Bird Health: Young birds are especially at risk. They might eat these beetles instead of their regular feed, which can introduce harmful parasites and diseases into their systems.

Given these issues, it’s clear that controlling darkling beetles is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive farm.

Beauveria bassiana: A Natural Alternative

Beauveria bassiana offers a different approach to pest control. This fungus specifically targets darkling beetles and other insects, making it a more sustainable and focused solution.

How Beauveria bassiana Works

When you apply Beauveria bassiana in your barn, its spores attach to the darkling beetles. Once the spores are on the beetle, they germinate and penetrate the beetle’s soft tissue. The fungus then grows inside the beetle, eventually killing it.

This process can take anywhere from one to five days, depending on conditions, but it’s highly effective. After the beetle dies, the fungus continues to spread, potentially infecting other beetles.

The Advantages of Beauveria bassiana

1. Targeted Action: Beauveria bassiana specifically targets darkling beetles, reducing the risk of harming your birds or other beneficial insects. It’s a focused solution that minimizes collateral damage.
2. Reduced Resistance: Because of the way Beauveria bassiana works, it’s much harder for beetles to develop resistance. This means you can rely on it for long-term control without needing to increase application rates.
3. Environmental Safety: Being a naturally occurring fungus, Beauveria bassiana doesn’t leave harmful residues in your barn or the environment. It’s a cleaner, greener option that aligns with sustainable farming practices.
4. Long-Term Control: The fungus continues to spread after the initial application, providing ongoing control of beetle populations. This can reduce the need for frequent reapplications and help keep infestations in check over time.
5. Cost-Effective: While Beauveria bassiana might have a higher upfront cost compared to chemical pesticides, its long-term benefits often outweigh this initial investment. With fewer reapplications and less damage to your feed and infrastructure, it can save you money in the long run.

How to Use Beauveria bassiana Effectively

If you’re considering using Beauveria bassiana on your farm, here are a few tips to get the most out of it:

• Timing: Apply Beauveria bassiana during periods of high beetle activity, such as in warmer months when the beetles’ lifecycle is shorter. Regular applications will help keep their numbers down.
• Targeted Areas: Focus on areas where beetles are most likely to be found, such as under feeders and near walls. These are prime spots for beetle eggs and larvae, making them key targets for treatment.
• Integrated Pest Management: While Beauveria bassiana is effective on its own, it works even better as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy. This might include regular barn cleaning, removing old litter, and using physical barriers to prevent beetle entry.
• Monitoring: Keep an eye on beetle populations and bird health after applying Beauveria bassiana. Regular monitoring will help you assess the effectiveness of the treatment and make any necessary adjustments.

Considerations and Challenges

While Beauveria bassiana has many benefits, there are a few factors to keep in mind:

1. Environmental Conditions: The effectiveness of Beauveria bassiana can depend on the environment. It works best in warm, humid conditions, so if your barn is cooler or drier, you might need to adjust your application strategy.
2. Patience Required: Unlike chemical pesticides, Beauveria bassiana doesn’t kill beetles instantly. It takes a few days to work, so you’ll need to be patient and give it time to do its job.

Real-World Examples

To illustrate how Beauveria bassiana can be effective, here’s an example from the field:

Case Study: A Large Poultry Farm in the Southern U.S.

A large poultry farm in the southern United States was struggling with a significant darkling beetle problem. After switching to Beauveria bassiana, they saw a marked reduction in beetle numbers after just a few treatment cycles. The birds stayed healthier, feed losses decreased, and the overall maintenance costs for the barn were reduced. Plus, they appreciated the fact that it was a more environmentally friendly solution.

Conclusion: Consider Beauveria bassiana for Your Farm

If you’re dealing with darkling beetles and are looking for a more sustainable, effective solution, Beauveria bassiana could be worth considering. It’s targeted, environmentally friendly, and offers long-term control without the downsides of chemical pesticides.

Get a complete understanding of balEnce and how it will help you get control of darkling beetles.

The Solution to Winter Wheat Sawfly Damage – SBb 2.5 & SPE 120

Beauveria Bassiana (Bb) is a biological seed inoculant that helps protect winter wheat from damage by sawflies and their larvae. SBb-2.5 (conventional) and SPE-120 (organic) contain Beauveria bassiana and are available from Terregena.com to farmers in the United States and Canada.

Winter wheat and small grain farmers who have used SBb-2.5 and SPE-120 have reported excellent results in terms of sawfly control. In fact, many farmers have been so pleased with the results that they have switched to using (Bb) products exclusively for sawfly control.

SAWFLIES AND THE IMPACT ON WHEAT

Sawflies can have a devastating impact on wheat crops. They are particularly troublesome in the US and Canada, where they are one of the most common insect pests affecting wheat production. Sawflies feed on the leaves of wheat plants. Moreover, the female sawfly cuts a notch in the stem to lay her eggs, which can cause the plants to become weakened and break. In some cases, sawfly infestations can be fatal to wheat plants.

What is Beauveria bassiana and how can it help reduce sawfly damage?

Beauveria bassiana is a beneficial fungal spore that is a symbiotic endophyte. It is incorporated into the plant and grows inside the plant as the plant grows. Among its many benefits, the Beauveria bassiana is detected by the sawfly and is repelled by it.

SBb and SPE Can Help Protect Wheat Plants Against Sawflies

Our products offer an effective, safe solution for managing insect pests in winter wheat crops. They are easy to apply and provide long-lasting protection against sawflies and other insect pests.

SBb 2.5 and SPE-120 utilize a natural, symbiotic fungus. The fungus lives in the soil, roots, stems, and leaves. Our strains are isolated from plants, for plants. Once plants are inoculated with SBb 2.5/SPE-120, a symbiotic relationship begins immediately as the plant grows, extending colonies throughout the plant, where they remain throughout the season until harvest, benefiting its host.

How to Apply SBb or SPE 120

When applied as a seed treatment, SBb or SPE help to ensure that the Beauveria bassiana is present in the plant from the very beginning. This gives the wheat a better chance of surviving an attack from sawflies or other insect pests.

Direct contact with the seed is preferred to assure plant entry at germination. Applied on, under, or atop of seed allows SBb-2.5 or organic SPE 120 a competitive preference to the initial plant roots where Beauveria bassiana becomes a premier symbiotic endophyte within the plant.

It can also be used as a foliar spray. The foliar application should be made in a minimum of 100 gallons of water per acre with sufficient agitation to maintain a uniform suspension. Be sure to cover all parts of the plant, including the leaves and stems. For best results, apply SBb or SPE 120 at least two weeks before sawfly larvae are expected to hatch in your area.

IN CONCLUSION

Our products are safe and will not harm people or the environment. SBb and SPE are effective ways to protect winter wheat plants against sawfly damage. This biological seed inoculant contains the endophyte Beauveria bassiana, which sawflies don’t like. It serves as a feeding deterrent and repellent and the insect moves away from it. When applied as a seed treatment, SBb 2.5 and SPE 120 can help ensure that your wheat crop survives a sawfly attack.

If you have any questions about SBb and SPE or how they can be used to protect your wheat crop, contact Jim Skinner at jim@terregena.com, or call Jim at 919-609-4564.

As described by the University of Nebraska Lincoln, Wireworm damage appears as straight, round holes with smooth walls.

Early in the season around planting, wireworms may drill into seed tubers or seed pieces thereby weakening them possibly resulting in secondary infection, especially by soft rot, in reduced stands, and in weakened young plants.

Wireworms also can feed on young sprouts with the same results. During the season, although not common, wireworms could damage roots and underground stems. For potatoes, the major damage is later in the season when tubers are maturing after bulking. Late-season damage will result when larvae feed on tubers causing feeding scars or feeding tunnels. The result of this feeding is reduced quality of the harvested tubers.

balEnce – featured in Canadian Poultry Magazine

Darkling Beetle Control — Best Strategies – and Positive Reports from Ontario on use of Fungal Product

By Treena Hein — May 2019

Al Dam, poultry specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, says that in 2018, he had more inquiries about darkling beetle infestations than he had in a long time. Is it resistance to insecticides, loss of certain insecticides, improper application of products, general biosecurity management, or all of the above?  We’re not sure, he reports. The temperature in 2018 was pretty high in some areas in the summer, and that was obviously great for insects. In every situation I heard about, producers were seeing more and more of the beetles over time and may not have realized necessarily how bad things had gotten until they saw a population explosion.”Some producers say Dam are also seeing populations of hairy fungus beetle that feed on fungus in straw, and that is the way it gets into the barn). To combat this, some farmers have switched from straw to shavings, switchgrass, cardboard products, or peat moss, but Dam notes that producers should double-check to make sure any new bedding choice is in line with the approved beddings in their board on-farm food safety program.

With darkling beetle, as with any insect pest, a multi-prolonged approach is needed. In conjunction with other control factors, some producers are having success with a targeted fungal product called balEnce ES-Beetle. These products take a while to work, Dam points out. You must use the product properly and also keep up with the application recommendations to achieve and maintain control.

Darkling Beetles Enter a Poultry Barn Door

The active material in balEnce, explains Jim Skinner (owner of U.S.-based distributor Terregena and former adjunct professor at Western Carolina University in North Carolina) is a fungal spore that was discovered by an Italian entomologist 200 years ago. It occurs naturally in soils around the world and is host-specific. Some years ago, a scientist at North Carolina State University was able to isolate the strains that specifically target darkling beetle, and strains for other insects as well, Skinner says. It’s available in liquid concentrate and powder. Skinner says they both work similarly and that most farmers use the liquid.

The spores are picked up by the darkling beetle, and the spores then grow, reproduce and kill the insect in one-to-five days. Jordon Poelman, has used balEnce for five years at his family’s broiler farm in Bayfield, Ontario. He’s seen very good results for control of both darkling beetles and flies, and he has become a product distributor. For the family’s older barns, which had a very high pressure of darkling beetles, the Poelmans were spending significant time and resources on chemical sprays and commercial fogging services. However, within three cycles of using balEnce, Poelman says both adult beetles and larva were not very noticeable, and that the beetles have never developed any resistance to the product.

Barn humidity control is also important in darkling beetle control. You need to keep manure dry, so it’s about good ventilation and also managing water usage, Poelman says. Proper line heights are needed and really high water quality is also very important. With very high water quality (I use Hydroxyl II), you have less water wastage, better feed consumption and less ventilation are needed. I also do dry clean in between flocks, and a heavy-duty wash once a year with Hydroxyl II. Poelman also values a broiler Facebook group where ideas and solutions for insect pests, achieving water quality, and more are discussed.

When asked about the importance of keeping manure dry, Ontario broiler producer and balEnce -ES user Alex Westerhout reports that he’s not sure as he finds most of the beetles come out when he turns on the heat at the start of the flock and the litter is dry. My litter is normally very dry anyway, he adds. Westerhout has been using the product for about four years since he heard about it through Poelman. He applies it with a backpack sprayer along the base of interior walls and around posts as well. I do it every crop before the bedding is placed with enough time to let it dry before the bedding goes down, he says. He’s used both Sevin Dust and Debantic 50 WP products in the past and says these products didn’t result in any decrease in the darkling beetle population. Debantic (from Bayer) is a wettable powder that can be applied as a premise spray, dust, or directly to birds to control a variety of pests in poultry and livestock barns. Bayer says it also offers Credo, a premise spray for the control of darkling beetles in poultry barns and can be applied as a broadcast, band, spot, or crack treatment. Tempo is another Bayer pest control powder product that’s mixed with water and applied as a general premise spray to control darkling beetles, flies, and more. Westerhout isn’t sure if he saved money using balEnce but he says he doesn’t really care. It’s been very effective, he says . I saw lots of dead beetles for about one year and then I had a large crop of dead larvae everywhere. Since then, I just see a few beetles every crop. I don’t think you ever totally eradicate the beast once infested — the eggs can take a long time to hatch after being laid in the walls.