I noticed a few SHB yesterday. Anyone else?
I killed two around entrance of one of mine yesterday as well.
I see them way too often. It is rare for me to open a hive and not see any beetles.
I found one under an inner cover a few weeks ago, but none since. None in my traps yet either. I'm sure I'll be seeing them before long.
For you experienced beekeepers, Have you noticed the SHB more of a problem some years than others, or pretty much the same each year?
Phillip
I have all screen bottom boards. With all the lizards and a few frogs and moles a SHB larva does not have much of a chance once it hits the ground. Yes I do see the beetles but not enough to hurt the hives. I did see a fair amount of wax moths early in the season but not much now.
I also see them in most of my hives. Not much of a problem unless the hive has a problem. They are just waiting for the hives to bee stressed out.
I do kill every one I see.
Jim Altmiller
I have seen a few in the single digits in my hives. I got a swarm a non beekeeping buddy caught This past weekend. He caught them in a 5 gallon bucket that he hung in a tree. They took up residence on the 16th of April so had 2 weeks to build comb in the bucket. There were hundreds of beetles in there. The smell was horrible. Fortunately they swarmed out of the trap to a tree right before I was going to switch them to a box. I took my oxy-acetylene rig to the bucket and watched them fry. Sucked the bees into a box and now 6 days in they are doing great.
Quote from: gunswayne on May 03, 2019, 09:31:22 PM
I have seen a few in the single digits in my hives. I got a swarm a non beekeeping buddy caught This past weekend. He caught them in a 5 gallon bucket that he hung in a tree. They took up residence on the 16th of April so had 2 weeks to build comb in the bucket. There were hundreds of beetles in there. The smell was horrible. Fortunately they swarmed out of the trap to a tree right before I was going to switch them to a box. I took my oxy-acetylene rig to the bucket and watched them fry. Sucked the bees into a box and now 6 days in they are doing great.
I have a feeling this might be a tough year for pesky SHB. Van, in another topic, says he has already lost a Nuc to the beetles. I am wondering if they run in cycles? I am not experienced enough to know. Do any of you experienced keepers keep records of such things?
Ben,
All it takes to have a bad year is to have one hive get totally slimed and the larvae are allowed to crawl out of the hive and pupate. One hive can produce several thousand if not 10,000 SHBs. On more than one occasion I have had to pull out a large trash can, fill it full of soapy water and submerge all of the frames of a hive in it to kill all of the larvae. The larvae do not die easily. The frames have to be weighed down to keep them under water.
The SHBs can also reproduce in rotting fruit
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 09, 2019, 07:50:51 AM
Ben,
All it takes to have a bad year is to have one hive get totally slimed and the larvae are allowed to crawl out of the hive and pupate. One hive can produce several thousand if not 10,000 SHBs. On more than one occasion I have had to pull out a large trash can, fill it full of soapy water and submerge all of the frames of a hive in it to kill all of the larvae. The larvae do not die easily. The frames have to be weighed down to keep them under water.
The SHBs can also reproduce in rotting fruit
Jim Altmiller
What a pest!
I have never had to deal with these pests before, but I have seen one or two on the top bars or one the slide out tray. I read that they poop and lay their eggs in the capped honey and I was just wondering how many you need to see in the hive in order to decide that your honey is fully contaminated and not edible? Is it possible to fully eradicate them from your hives, or are they able to travel from other beeks hives in your area?
They do not exist in Washington so I have seen none
Quote from: Hethen57 on June 12, 2019, 05:43:56 PM
I have never had to deal with these pests before, but I have seen one or two on the top bars or one the slide out tray. I read that they poop and lay their eggs in the capped honey and I was just wondering how many you need to see in the hive in order to decide that your honey is fully contaminated and not edible? Is it possible to fully eradicate them from your hives, or are they able to travel from other beeks hives in your area?
Your bees are constantly keeping them locked in cells, when the bees are not stressed, and constantly removing the SHB larvae and eggs. It is only when you see your hive slimmed that you have to worry about the honey.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: Ben Framed on May 03, 2019, 11:43:13 AM
For you experienced beekeepers, Have you noticed the SHB more of a problem some years than others, or pretty much the same each year?
Phillip
Hi Phil, I see some years are better than others. In 2017, I figured there was a feral hive close as the beetles were horrifying. In a single screen bottom board, sbb, I would catch as many as 20, twenty, a night. I don?t know how many avoided the sbb. I did not lose a hive but had some close ones that year 2017 was horrible.
However the following year, 2018 was non eventful, that is not many beetles. I figured the feral hive died in the winter of 2017. It like was Jim stated, all it?s takes is one breeder hive for the beetles and hives within range are going to plagued. The beetles are sap suckers so living in a tree is natural, but winter kills the critters unless the beetles can find a warm hive to winter over.
So far, 2019 appears to be non eventful except for one nuc that was saved. Weak hives such as newly created nucs are targeted. But don?t get misled, if there is a breeder hive close by, you may be hit with scores of beetles overnight. Remember what Jim texted above and don?t let your guard down.
I agree with Jim, the larva are hardy, hard to kill. The larva can travel a long ways to find soil as a researcher found out; escaped larva can crawl down a flight of stairs.
Van
I haven?t seen as many beetles this year as I did last year. I?m not sure if it?s because I?ve been better about not giving the bees too much space or if they?re just not as bad this year.
I have seen very few but there several in some of the oil pans
Quote from: van from Arkansas on June 12, 2019, 09:14:43 PM
Quote from: Ben Framed on May 03, 2019, 11:43:13 AM
For you experienced beekeepers, Have you noticed the SHB more of a problem some years than others, or pretty much the same each year?
Phillip
Hi Phil, I see some years are better than others. In 2017, I figured there was a feral hive close as the beetles were horrifying. In a single screen bottom board, sbb, I would catch as many as 20, twenty, a night. I don?t know how many avoided the sbb. I did not lose a hive but had some close ones that year 2017 was horrible.
However the following year, 2018 was non eventful, that is not many beetles. I figured the feral hive died in the winter of 2017. It like was Jim stated, all it?s takes is one breeder hive for the beetles and hives within range are going to plagued. The beetles are sap suckers so living in a tree is natural, but winter kills the critters unless the beetles can find a warm hive to winter over.
So far, 2019 appears to be non eventful except for one nuc that was saved. Weak hives such as newly created nucs are targeted. But don?t get misled, if there is a breeder hive close by, you may be hit with scores of beetles overnight. Remember what Jim texted above and don?t let your guard down.
I agree with Jim, the larva are hardy, hard to kill. The larva can travel a long ways to find soil as a researcher found out; escaped larva can crawl down a flight of stairs.
Van
I agree with you and Jim, and being prepared before they strike a hard blow is the key, not affording them the opportunity to gain a leverage, or foothold in the first place. But as you say, there are the variables that may be behind the scene that we do not know about and are therefore, helpless to control the effects and cycles of these hard shelled critters. Per the example that you gave, Mr Van, beetles in a feral hive. Good point !!!
I appreciate each one of you, which have posted your comments here about these pest. It is interesting to me, to hear what different beekeepers form around the country, and even other countries, may be experiencing relative to their own area.
Mr paus, again good job with the oil trays. As Barney Fife might say, "nip it in the bud" :grin:
Phillip
SHBs can lay their eggs in rotting fruit. Not their preferred location but they can and do use fruit.
Yesterday BobSim and I did a cutout where the comb had collapsed and fallen to the bottom. It was packed full of SHB larvae. It stunk of fermented honey and it was nasty. They are always waiting for a chance to lay their eggs and slime a hive.
Jim Altmiller
Newbee, here with my first hive. I caught a swarm. I saw 4 or 5
shb a week ago, and tomorrow I am putting in some brawny towel traps. I have no idea what I am going to find tomorrow, but the entrance seems busy and gentle, and they are still doing orientation flights each day. Last week they had occupied 12 frames in my long hive. I hope they are strong enough to hold the beetles off.
Only one hive beetle today on inspection and I smashed him. I still put in the brawney towel traps. We will see what that does. It seems a string hive. maybe they are running the beetles out.
My bees were out and flying at my home yard today. I took the opportunity of the beautiful unseasonable warmer sunshiny day to add granular sugar Mountain Camp style for added insurance. I have learned here at Beemaster that SHB overwinter with our bees so I shouldn't have been too surprised to see a few under the tops. Not many, no more than two or three per hive and some hives seeing none. Even so, it was strange to me, seeing them in January just the same. I live in an area where the temperatures are common to experience lows in the 20's at least half the month of January.
Same here Ben. I saw a couple in a hive or two earlier this week. I'm glad you resurrected this old thread to say that. I was wondering if I had a problem brewing.
Thank you Bob, I believe we will be ok. If I remember correctly, sawdstmakr once told me they, (SHB) will not reproduce until the temperatures are steady in the 70s. If I am mistaken perhaps Jim will chime in and correct me.
Spotted about fifteen in one hive today. They were hanging out on a section of old comb in an outer frame, the hive had a problem with them last year. Pulled the old wonky comb and squashed the beetles then set up traps in all the hives. Not going to let them get a foot hold in my yard this year.
Small hive beetles can live three months in ideal temperatures, with maximum adult longevity occurring when temperatures are between 28-32?C (82-90?F). Temperature can also drastically impact hatch success, time to hatching, larval growth, and adult fecundity.
In other words they are tough little suckers and need to be killed on sight. ;)
A downside to living in paradise I guess...with our warm climate the little pests are non-stop year round. I live at a higher elevation on the island and even though our nighttime temps are in the mid-low 60's in the winter months, it doesn't seem to have an effect on the beetles; Not cold enough I suppose. Like Jim, I use screened bottoms on all of my hives. Will be letting our chickens into the apiary soon, once it's fully fenced to keep the dogs out...hopefully they will scavenge those beetle larvae.
Beeboy01
Make sure there is no vacant space in your hives, keep the bees tight and this will help to keep SHB controlled.
When I ran bees in Texas I found small hive beetles are a real challenge to control. It did not matter if it was in the shade or full sun. What seemed to work for me was making sure the beetles had no place to hide. Seal all the interior joints so there are no gaps for the beetles to hide. Make sure hives are strong" lots of bees".
If you have hives that are week add more bees or reduce them down to nucs. I have tried most of the traps and they all work to a certain degree. The freeman type bottom board seemed to work for me. But I found no matter what you do if you don't have strong healthy hives you will forever spend a great deal of time-fighting the SHB all the time. Can't emphasize more" STRONG STRONG HIVES". I had a little handheld vacuum cleaner that I attached a small plastic clear hose to the and every time I popped a lid would just vacuum them up, which worked well. The other major problem is Varroa at least I can treat varroa not so much SHB.
Quote from: Brian MCquilkin on January 31, 2021, 01:59:39 PM
When I ran bees in Texas I found small hive beetles are a real challenge to control. It did not matter if it was in the shade or full sun. What seemed to work for me was making sure the beetles had no place to hide. Seal all the interior joints so there are no gaps for the beetles to hide. Make sure hives are strong" lots of bees".
If you have hives that are week add more bees or reduce them down to nucs. I have tried most of the traps and they all work to a certain degree. The freeman type bottom board seemed to work for me. But I found no matter what you do if you don't have strong healthy hives you will forever spend a great deal of time-fighting the SHB all the time. Can't emphasize more" STRONG STRONG HIVES". I had a little handheld vacuum cleaner that I attached a small plastic clear hose to the and every time I popped a lid would just vacuum them up, which worked well. The other major problem is Varroa at least I can treat varroa not so much SHB.
Mr MCquilkin, The vacuum set up you described sounds like a good idea to me. When you have them vacuumed, how would you go about finishing them off? In other words how do you kill them before they can fly away? Using a wet vac by adding water to the holding bucket so they will drown?
Quote from: Ben Framed on January 31, 2021, 02:25:25 PM
Quote from: Brian MCquilkin on January 31, 2021, 01:59:39 PM
Mr MCquilkin, The vacuum set up you described sounds like a good idea to me. When you have them vacuumed, how would you go about finishing them off? In other words how do you kill them before they can fly away? Using a wet vac by adding water to the holding bucket so they will drown?
I had a 5 gal bucket at the home yard with some cooking oil in the bottom. I dumped them in that. Left the beetles in the vac till I got home.
The vac was just a small portable one.
One of my hives is weaker, stressed, and more defensive than the others. I found 10-15 beetles corralled above the broodnest a few days ago.
I gave them two frames of capped brood from another hive, and I am going to add in two of those SHB oil traps that insert into the space between the top bars of the frames.
Quote from: Bob Wilson on February 05, 2021, 12:59:59 PM
One of my hives is weaker, stressed, and more defensive than the others. I found 10-15 beetles corralled above the broodnest a few days ago.
I gave them two frames of capped brood from another hive, and I am going to add in two of those SHB oil traps that insert into the space between the top bars of the frames.
WOW frames of capped brood already! It may be a mistake by me but I started feeding pollen sub today. It is warm enough that the bees are flying in abundance today and they are all over it. (52F)
For curiosity, I wonder when SHB begin flying?