I put bottom board beetle traps on this afternoon. These are a bottom board with a screen and a slide in tray of oil beneath. The last time we got in the hives the beetles were everywhere. I hope to knock them back a bit and am simultaneously feeding heavily with 2:1 syrup. I will post some pics of the trays when I inspect later this week. I hope these traps are all they are cracked up to be.
Keep us posted. I've been considering trying them too. Bloody SHBs are overrunning FL! I've lost several hives to them. I'm learning how to control them, thanks to all the good info on here.
Kelly
You know some beekeepers state the best control for hive beetles is a good strong healthy colony. At the same time they are stating that its the weak colonies with issues (mites, nosema, etc...) that get overrun by the beetles.
I have noticed in the hives I shook out this spring contained by far the most beetles. Also be careful of what type feeder you use. You maybe simply producing more beetles.
Checked the traps over the weekend. There were a few beetles (not the hoards I had hoped). I did see many varoa but a whole lot of ants. We will see how things go over the winter.
have you tried these new traps, Look at this link and he sells the traps plus the bait tubes, these work a lot better than oil trays, watch the video's and read all on the page
http://georgiabees.blogspot.com/search/label/Small%20Hive%20Beetles (http://georgiabees.blogspot.com/search/label/Small%20Hive%20Beetles)
http://georgiabees.blogspot.com/2009/09/small-hive-beetle-traps-pstpaid.html (http://georgiabees.blogspot.com/2009/09/small-hive-beetle-traps-pstpaid.html)