How can I clean up a hive with small hive beetle infestation?

Beewildered61 · May 24, 2016, 10:40:14 PM

Well, so far the way this year has been going, I want to put a little of my feeling into it, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAAKPJEq1Ew
This was my largest hive, but it's swarmed at least twice maybe three times. I told my wife last week, I didn't see a lot of bees coming and going, I might should take the super off of it. Well, I just kept watching and busy with other things, until yesterday. I noticed an unusual amount of bees around the entrance and some on the out side of the hive, maybe 20 bees... so I finally was able to check it today and the beetles have gotten into it. They haven't completely destroyed it, but there were larva on all the frames, not so many, but scattered out....

It was getting close to dark and I didn't have a clue how to clean this up, so I went and got another bottom board, and deep with frames and put it in the place of the hive, and stacked the boxes with the bees in them on the tail gate of my truck, with just an inner top on it and the bottom edge overhanging, so the bees could get air and go in and out.... So tomorrow I have a wonderful mess to clean up. How should I do it? Can I some way get the bees out of the old hive and into a new one (with no drawn comb, I might add), or can I some how clean the beetles and larva out of the old hive frames and just set it back into place...

Wombat2 · May 25, 2016, 05:42:13 AM

If they have slimmed the frames you can hose it off with jet of water - shake off the surplus water and put the frames back in the hive - the bees will clean it up. If you have what looks like more grubs than bees - try brushing them off into a tray of oil or DE - don't let them get on the ground or they will bury themselves. Moderate numbers and a strong hive will take care of them - give then some help with beetle traps - I prefer bottom board traps with oil.

Beewildered61 · May 25, 2016, 07:13:26 AM

No it's not bad enough to have slimed yet, but grubs in all the nooks and crannies... I have the Beetleman tray trap-bottom boards, but I usually leave them empty of water during winter, I hadn't filled them yet, didn't think it had been warm enough, long enough, guess I should have.

How you gonna get the bees off the frames to spray them with water? Probably would be easier to spray the grubs off, some are tiny and in the cracks....

Barhopper · May 25, 2016, 07:55:05 AM

Freezing the frames will kill the larvae but you still have to clean it up. I had it happen to me once. Total loss. Took out he foundation, disposed of it, put new foundation in.

Beewildered61 · May 25, 2016, 08:23:38 AM

Well, I want to save the bees, they haven't absconded yet.... that is what I'm trying to figure out..

Acebird · May 25, 2016, 08:24:02 AM

Did you see the swarms? It is possible that the small hive beetles just drove the bees away and what you are left with is the foragers that returned to the hive. If this is the case I would shake all the bees out and freeze every frame. The hive is pretty much done for and your only satisfaction is to kill all the beetles so they can't get to another hive.

Beewildered61 · May 25, 2016, 08:35:09 AM

No, the bees are all there, they are just starting to hang onto the outside of the hive.... they haven't left.

BeeMaster2 · May 25, 2016, 01:10:31 PM

Depending on how bad it is, you have 2 choises.
1. Remove all of the heavily infested frames and replace them with foundation while at the same time reduce the size of the hive so that they are pack in with at least a few foundation or foundation less frames.
2. If it is really bad, place a new hive with empty or foundation frames in the old location and shake the bees all off on a sheet that the bees can walk back into the hive. Do this so that you are not dumping the SHB and larvae back into the new hive. If you have one or good frames or good sections of frames, cut out the bad section and put them in. Pull all honey and pollen frames. You will probably find that the pollen frames are infested the worst.
Let them start over with a clean hive before they are forced to do it themselves by absconding.
Bee sure to kill the SHB and larvae by freezing or by drowning them in a large bucket of soapy water. You do not want the larvae making it to thew ground where they can molt and pupate.
Good luck,
Jim