Already battling one pest attacking honeybees, state agricultural officials are now starting an investigation into another: the small hive beetle.

The beetles feed on honey, pollen, wax, honeybee eggs and larvae and tunnel through honeycombs, contaminating the honey.

State agricultural officials fear that with the presence of this new beetle, some foreign countries might impose restrictions on the importation of honeybees from Hawaii.

State agricultural officials said they are conducting surveys in Hilo and have found the beetles at two sites so far. A beekeeper reported the beetle at a Panaewa farm last week.

Neil Reimer, manager of the state Plant Pest Control Branch, said eradicating the small hive beetle will be difficult because it also can feed on decaying fruit, abundant in wilderness areas.

Surveys were scheduled to begin yesterday at sites in Kona, where the majority of honeybee activity is found, the state said.

Reimer said the pest control branch is working with state agriculture officials to develop a bee certification procedure that would allow for the continued exportation of queen bees from Hawaii.

The state already has been working to check the spread of varroa mites, another bee pest, found on Oahu in 2007 and in Hilo in 2008.

The small hive beetle, a native of South Africa, is about 4 to 5 millimeters in length and is yellowish-brown, turning brownish, then black as it matures. The beetle was first detected in the U.S. in 1996 in South Carolina and has since spread to several states, including California.