I came across a hive in a remote yard that was failing. It has a deep on the bottom, then a medium, then 2 honey supers. All filled since they sat since last summer and nothing was taken off.
As I walked up to the hive, not much activity. Honey was oozing out the bottom entrance. Yeah, you guessed it.....full of SHB larvae. Every frame was covered, but little comb damage. The remaining thousand or so bees were confined to the edges of the box. They were doomed.
Next to it was a hive consisting of the same box arrangement. And busting at the seams with bees. Brood in every box. Bees coating the entire outside of the hive. Certainly a 50-60 thousand strong colony if I ever did see one.
I thought...lets see what they can do.
So I broke down the boxes and on the strong hive I placed, their deep, one super, then the medium and two supers from the SHB infested hive. Then another super full of bees.
On the SHB hive location, I placed the medium from the strong hive on top of the SHB deep box. Seems the deep box in the SHB location was probably "dry" and only had a small amount of larvae that seemed to ooze from above.
So what say you? Will the hive(s) get cleaned up? Will they abscond? Will they be overrun and cave to the SHB?
I never did see any SHB. Only the larvae in mass.
I'll check in couple weeks. If ever a hive had enough to clean up this mess, this would be the one. It will be interesting to see the outcome.
Anyone have good or bad experiences with anything like this?
If you can get back to them in time tonight, you can shake the swarm into a hive. They will abscond.
My guess...........
I'm guessing the original hive location will clean them out. I don't know if the medium full of bees is enough to effectively occupy the additional deep.
I look forward to hearing your report on the outcome. Thanks for sharing the experiment with us.
Adam.
Interesting experiment Bjorn, I'll look forward to hearing the outcome! I find that a REALLY robust (and by that I mean BOOMING) hive can handle a lot more than I would ever give them credit for. That said, I'm starting to glean a little insight into these nasty little beetles and the smell is what intrigues me. Have you ever noticed how much an infestation of SHB larvae smell like bee go? I don't know...maybe just the beer talking to me, but I'm starting to think that the smell drives the bees away and deters them from actually trying to defend the colony. Keep us posted on the results.
Scott
Thank you the comments guys.
I thought about absconding. But I'm thinking that a hive that "usually" succumbs to SHB is a hive that is failing or has weakened over time for various reasons. I think a hive can sense when all is lost and just leaves when it knows it's time has come.
But what about taking a hive that is one moment so robust they are packed full, and the next second they are challenged with a heavy load of SHB? Will they go into an attack mode and take on the challenge, or easily succumb and go into a position of failure and leave?
I'm thinking this will be different then a hive slowly overcome and then absconding. I'm placing my money on that they will clean it up. Or at least that is what I am hoping for. :-D Hope to not lose another hive.
Although I may of really overloaded this strong hive, and if this does work, I plan next time to perhaps separate the boxes between several hives...IF...this works. ;)
Good luck with the project Mike. I'm leaning towards them cleaning things up albeit shb larvae are pretty tough critters.
Let us know if you see them hauling them out.
On a side note, my "speaker box bees" that I brought to bud's this past spring was a swarm that moved in while a previous colony that had been living in the box was inundated with shb. The swarm moved right into the box and went right to cleaning house.
This second colony resided in the box for two years before we cut them out.
Thanks for this thread.
...JP
good luck bjorn I didnt think you had hive beetles that far north. I got one out yard and here at the house that i have found hive beetle in. what i have discovered is they will abscond and wont reuse the comb if it has been slimed by the beetle
Did I miss it, what was the result?
how far north do people see the small hive beetles? Does anyone in michigan have a problem with them?
Quote from: riverrat on June 05, 2010, 10:59:51 AM
good luck bjorn I didn't think you had hive beetles that far north. I got one out yard and here at the house that i have found hive beetle in. what i have discovered is they will abscond and wont reuse the comb if it has been slimed by the beetle
I don't have them in my nuc yards except for the occasional one. I think we found four this year. I mainly have them in the commercial yards for apple pollination. These are the places that they bring in thousands of migratory commercial hives every year from the south. there, it makes no difference about being north or not.
Quote from: wd on June 23, 2010, 06:55:30 PM
Did I miss it, what was the result?
I'll be at the farm tomorrow grafting. So I can make the run down to the yard (about 20 miles away) and see what happened. I'll post the update with (hopefully) good news.
UPDATE:
Just got back from the yard outside Gettysburg. I happened to roll up to the hives a couple minutes prior to a nasty thunderstorm. I took a quick peek in the top. And boy oh boy....GOOD NEWS! Boxes full of bees. The bee were piling into the hives of every entrance as the rains let loose. I'll go back another day and pull all the frames, but I am sure by the thousands of returning bees, that they are functioning very well.
Which is what I thought might happen, but I was worried just the same. I figured if the hive is crashing due to some situation, and the SHB larvae gets established, that the bees would just realize defeat and abscond. But taking a healthy very strong hive and introducing three full boxes of slimed and riddled with SHB larvae into the center, allowed the bees to go to work and they actually cleaned it up. No oozing honey at the entrance, boxes still full of bees, and looks like they did their part. :-D
I guess I can now market SHB larvae resistant bees..... :lau:
Quote from: BjornBee on June 24, 2010, 05:20:25 PM
I guess I can now market SHB larvae resistant bees..... :lau:
:roll: LOL :roll: BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Too cool! I wish that could happen here...it'd be like to old days (pre SHB).
Scott
Good to hear. Sure surprises me.
Well, I thought one might make it due to the pheromone of the stronger but now I don't think it matters.
Thanks for all and Congrats!
That's wonderful!