Small Hive Beetles

keito · July 22, 2012, 12:27:31 PM

It appears that I am losing the battle to SHB. I had six beetle blaster traps in there and they all filled with many beetles. Beetle Larva coming out of the frames. What are my options? Thanks for the advice.

asprince · July 22, 2012, 01:35:47 PM

Remove the infected frames and pack the bees into a small space. They can defend a small space. You must hurry, once you see larvae destruction move rapidly. You can was off the larvae and freeze the frames.

Good Luck (you will need it),

Steve

AllenF · July 22, 2012, 02:58:39 PM

Are you feeding your bees?

keito · July 22, 2012, 04:45:33 PM

I am feeding them sugar syrup. The hive was not a really strong one I had queen problems and the population went down.

saperica · July 22, 2012, 05:03:08 PM

check mite, perezin will solve that problem. but you hawe a book for menagment of shb.

tryintolearn · July 23, 2012, 10:10:14 AM

south crolina must be the worst place in america for shb....fight them daily here

AllenF · July 23, 2012, 01:25:06 PM

Use your thumb and smush them. I really makes you feel better inside.

Beeboy01 · July 23, 2012, 10:10:09 PM

Get some 1/4 inch metal screen and wrap it around a shallow plastic tray with a little soapy water in it. When you open the hives take a SHB infested frame and bang it against the screen till the bees ans beetles are knocked off, the bees will hit the screen and fly away a little mad while the SHB's fall through the screen and drown in the soapy water. It is a quick way to clean out the SHB's while inspecting a hive. Give it a try, it works a lot better than trying to crush them with a hive tool.

duck · July 23, 2012, 10:30:59 PM

i play crush the beetle daily. got some of the beetle barn traps and they are working good.

http://www.gabees.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=26_59&products_id=370

I almost got them under control. Diatomaceous earth all around the ground and under the hives, I believe its playing a part.

the screened inner cover with slots cut in it is also working for me, i smush a few beetles in there every day.. Its also got the temps, and humidity down.

AllenF · July 23, 2012, 10:41:12 PM

Something I was thinking while picking okra yesterday. It has been a long time since I last saw a japanese beetle on the okra. I remember back in the 80's, when all the fruit would be ate up by the japanese beetles. Everything in the garden, apples, grapes, plums, everything. What happened? Nature turned the balance. We do not spray Sevin on everything anymore. Beetles have stuff eating on them now to keep them in check. SHB will be that way soon. When the larvae go to the earth, so things will learn to like to eat them, just like with the japanese beetle.

asprince · July 24, 2012, 08:02:47 AM

Maybe so, but in the mean time the battle continues!

Steve

tryintolearn · July 24, 2012, 02:36:44 PM

just drove up to albemarle nc today about 2 hours away to pick up a nuc....and what did i see???? smb in it...i guess they are everywhere.... brought the nuc home and set it up outside installed 2 beetle barns and will continue the fight :-D

ApalacheeRiverFarms · July 24, 2012, 03:13:32 PM

They do seem to be everywhere. Buyer Beware! Did you get a discount?

marktrl · July 24, 2012, 09:17:12 PM

I've found that the best way to help the bees defend against SHB is to reduce the entrance and Close the screen bottom so the beetles can't get in as easy. I had opened the screen bottoms this spring for more ventilation and soon found a lot more beetles in the hives. So I closed them with oil trays and now they are much more manageable. And the oil trays catch the SHB larva and moth larva as well.

sterling · July 24, 2012, 09:29:39 PM

Oil trays under the screened bottom boards has worked well for me also.

asprince · July 24, 2012, 10:26:14 PM

You guys that use the oil trays and beetle barns..........how many hives do you have? Sounds ok for two or three. How about 50 or 100?

Steve

duck · July 25, 2012, 12:26:59 AM

beetle barn on top of frames under inner cover. whats not to like? now the oil trays, might take more setup and moving might be a pain.

Here is another thing im going to start doing with regard to shb. The grooved top and bottom bars seem to hold them under the plastic foundation. the bees cant get to them there. There are also two holes where the beetles enter the grooves from the sides of the frame. I am going to seal up those holes with silicone and when I insert the plastic foundation, I will either bed it in wax or silicone to eliminate this hiding place. I was also thinking of running a bead in all supers in the corners. That way the cant hide in any crevices.

Nature Coast Beek · July 25, 2012, 07:37:57 AM

Some SHB info here. Worth the read. SHB detection and control

tryintolearn · July 25, 2012, 10:24:12 AM

no discount but we had fun crushing them when we got it opened up

sterling · July 25, 2012, 07:12:59 PM

Quote from: asprince on July 24, 2012, 10:26:14 PM
You guys that use the oil trays and beetle barns..........how many hives do you have? Sounds ok for two or three. How about 50 or 100?

Steve

I don't have 50 or 100 but I have 38 and have an oil tray under each one. I converted the screenbottom boards to hold a $2.50 cookie sheet from wallyworld and put in about 1/4in of oil and change it every couple months if it is full of dead bettles and wax moth larva. I tried about everything else and the tray works best for me. And some bees deal with em better then others also.