Bottom Board Beetle Trap - Designs?

[PhilK]

G'day,

Just purchased one of these bottom board yesterday with two in built beetle traps - http://www.qualitybeekeepingsupplies.com.au/index.php/catalogue-2/44-beetle-traps/257-beetle-trap-bottom-board

I'd like to just copy their design and make my own (as it'll be significantly cheaper I imagine) but I am handy challenged when it comes to making things in general! Does anybody know of any designs/instructions for a bottom board like this?

Cheers

[Wombat2]

I am a big believer in bottom board traps- I make my own and with wider grill - I have found the front one was filling with pollen ( it was set a bit further back) I am now experimenting with a thin metal strip over the with about 1/8" gap.

One of the Sunshine Coast Bee Keepers Group built a special hive box with a glass strip around the bottom of the walls so he could watch what happened when SHB came into the hive. Most times the guard bees stopped them - if they got past the guard other bees tended to chase them and they made a beeline to the dark back of the hive and ran up and down the back wall being chased by bees - so a logical place to have a trap - likewise the front trap with a cover would give the SHB a false sense of security in thinking they can duck for cover. SHB don't see very well if at all and feel with the feelers looking for hidey holes.  He found they rarely made their way to the top of the hive unless it was to escape the bees and find a dark place to hide - I have stopped using top mats/board as they seemed all they do was provide cover for SHB. I use large vents in the lid that provide lots of ventilation and light - air flow brings the bees up to cool off and the light sends the beetles down to be chased by bees.

I like a wider trap than in your board as they will also pick up the grubs on the war out

[PhilK]

Thanks for the reply Wombat! How concerned should I be about the bees losing pollen as they go over the wire grills? I don't want al that hard earned pollen going to waste.

In theory I think they're a great idea - the front trap I imagine catches a lot of entering beetles and the back one could take care of the ones you mentioned that head for the back. Also any knocked down from the walls/frames and falling to the bottom board have a good shot at being herded into the front or back traps too. I also like the idea of checking the traps without having to open the hive.

For someone handy-challenged like me, would making my own beetle trap bottom boards be hard? Have you seen any plans for one around? I tried Googling to no avail. I don't really want to shell out money if I can make something myself a bit cheaper. What sort of tool do I need to make them?

PS I just realised the wombat in your display picture isn't actually a wombat!

[Wombat2]

I just cut a hole with a jigsaw - rebate a lip with a router and set in some Bunnings metal Gutter guard - Been using up my wife's cheap baking trays and run them in from the rear by again running a rebate along the top inside edge of the bottom board cleats that I run front to back and attach them the width of the tray with a little sliding room.
plans are in my head 

For cleats I use treated pine 50x75  spaces from the treated pine sleeper packs at Bunnings - they are happy to give them away.

Wombatman is probably a poor Chinese impression of a wombat.

[richter1978]

I've had success making my own. Screened bottom board with a cafeteria tray underneath. Got a box of 20 trays from Amazon. I added wood to the undersides of the bottom board the thickness of the tray, then put 2 pieces across the bottom to hold the tray (add a shim if the tray isn't snug against the bottom). I started by putting oil in the tray, after the population of beetles dropped, I now use them dry and just smash the few beetles that get corralled there. I hope this makes sense as I don't have any photos.

[kamie]

Richter, will a standard screened bottom board from Brushymountain work or do you need wider mesh for the beetles to fall through?

[KeyLargoBees]

standard screened bottom boards work....as long as they have an oil tray or an IPM tray insert underneath that you can put diatomaceous earth or some such in....just the screened boards themselves will work if the hives are placed on a substrate where the larvae cant pupate in the ground (I have my hives on pavers or gravel)....there are multiple ways to skin this proverbial cat.

[kamie]

Thanks Jeff,
I do plan to put the hives on pavers so that part of the plan is in the works.  I may try and get some trays i can fill with oil for the IPM bottom boards.  I can always switch them out for the standard insert if the beetle population isn't high.  In the hives I was helping with last year we had a huge beetle problem but we had screened bottom boards over dirt.

[KeyLargoBees]

I'm in the Florida Keys....so semi tropical....I have seen it debated about hives in full sun vs shade and general consensus is the more full sun the less beetle issue but then again most people dont have to worry about beetles being active all year like I do.

I try and get all my hives situated so they get at a minimum 4-5 hours of sun with late afternoon shade so they dont roast in August and September in the heat and humidity.....seems to be working for me. I see beetles in all my hives but its one and two at a time...even in some of my weaker hives that I have had to collapse down into nucs the beetles have never been an issue....am I just lucky or doing something right...who knows...but its working for me   :-)

[texanbelchers]

am I just lucky or doing something right...who knows...but its working for me   :-)

The ones you have are just on vacation.  :)

I have a custom bottom built around AL 1/2 sheet pans.  They are just the right size for 8 frame.  I run mineral oil during the summer and switched to DE for the winter.  I may screen the DE and run it into the spring as it is much less mess.

[PhilK]

....just the screened boards themselves will work if the hives are placed on a substrate where the larvae cant pupate in the ground (I have my hives on pavers or gravel)

This will be good for larva control, but if the beetles fall through onto that substrate won't they just walk/fly back around to the front?

SHBs are a problem here all year round too I imagine!

[Wombat2]

Apparently the grubs will crawl up to a meter away from where they fall so what ever is used to stop them will need to be extensive in radius

[Joe D]

I have SBB's with a pan underneath with dish washing liquid and water.  In the summer have to keep a check on the water level, if its low just add some more water.  I have the hives on a concrete slab, that has a roof to give them shade in the afternoon.  Since the slab goes a few feet out from the hives, I will spray the grass at the edge with diesel.  If a SHB gets by the trap, the diesel should take care of him before he gets to dirt.


Good luck to you and your bees.

Joe D

[KeyLargoBees]

This will be good for larva control, but if the beetles fall through onto that substrate won't they just walk/fly back around to the front?

Yep having a tray below the SBB with oil or ditomaceous earth in it works much better to catch adult beetles but its the larvae that slime a hive...and breaking the cycle to prevent a population boom is the key...I am ok with a few beetles and you can never stop them all...just need them to not reproduce.

I have some small ants living in the cracks between the pavers my hives are on in my three yards (its Florida Bugs are EVERYWHERE) ....and anything that falls out of the hives they find tasty (bee parts, dead bees, shb larvae) gets snagged and killed or drug off by them...so in essence I have an "organic" oil tray killing the pests that fall out and I don't have to worry about maintaining oil levels or if the DE gets wet when it rains :-)

[richter1978]

Kamie, sorry for the slow response. As already stated, regular screened bottom boards are fine. I have killed 8-900 at a time with oil in the tray. Once I see a precipitous decline in numbers, I just use them dry and smash the beetles I find.

[kamie]

richter, no issues not responding. This is all great info.  Much easier to add this before I put the hives together and have bees than after.  I know we didn't have 900 beetles in the hives this past year but fewer is always better.

[SlickMick]

Kamie, sorry for the slow response. As already stated, regular screened bottom boards are fine. I have killed 8-900 at a time with oil in the tray. Once I see a precipitous decline in numbers, I just use them dry and smash the beetles I find.

I can't imagine 8-900 shb in a hive. I  thought I was hard done by with 20-30 at the peak a few years ago.

When I got back into bees after 3 years away, I bought a 5 frame nuc from a full time beek in October last year. They are now in an 8 frame deep with 3 half depth supers and are the most gentle hive I have had in 20 years with bees. But, they are also the most hygienic and all the frames are heavily populated. I have also seen them fly off with a shb in their jaws when I have opened the hive.

The only thing different fro the oil traps that I used to use is the beek advised me to cut 2 slots 1/8" wide at the front and back of the bb.. no oil trap.. the shb are chased out through the slots but have to return past the guard bees. The most shb I have seen in the hive is 4 so perhaps the girls are learning how to deal with them.

[mtnb]

Interesting. So when I read about Jim sawdustmkr and others talking about oil pans, this is what they mean?

[richter1978]

Yes. I got the idea from Saw.