small hive beetles

T.Smith · April 07, 2008, 11:03:41 PM

Hello, I am in north Louisiana and having problems with hive beetles. You can have a strong colony one day and boxes of larvae and beetles a week later. I read in this months bee culture about formic acid and was wondering if any one has had any luck with it. I see they sell it at mann lake. Any suggestions Thanks Tracy

Apis629 · April 08, 2008, 02:02:40 AM

Your only really effective defense against small hive beetles would be to keep the colonies well populated and strong. It's all about having enough workers on the comb to actively remove any eggs deposited by the beetles. You could also consider trying one of the beetle traps which uses lime or vegetable oil as a method of controlling and monitoring the beetle populations in the hives. Hive beetles can fly and travel for miles around, killing them once they're at the hive would be difficult, and really won't do much if more are on their way.

tillie · April 08, 2008, 08:01:52 AM

Ditto on the strong hives. When I opened mine up this spring, both hives were full of SHB who apparently lived through the winter in my colonies, but now there are no SHB in either hive - now, I feel quite sure they will show up as their numbers increase this summer even with my strong hives, but I've been shocked that there are none right now.

I've just bought the new vegetable oil trap from Australia to see how it works but my last year's approach of the Sonny-Mel trap will be in use when they show back up as well. Last year I used both the vinegar trap hooked into a frame as well as the Sonny-Mel trap and still saw SHB every time I opened the hive, but I'm sure the two traps diminished the numbers. This year three kinds will be even better!

Linda T fighting the SHB one day at a time in Atlanta

Ross · April 08, 2008, 11:26:07 AM

The other defenses are full sunshine and hard soil. Staying out away from pine trees has anecdotally been recommended as well.

Wes Sapp · April 09, 2008, 12:16:11 AM

I struggled with the SHB for 2 years using veg. oil traps, West traps and others. The best defense I've found is GardStar it's a concentrate you mix and drench the ground with a sprinkler can that breaks the reproductive cycle of SHB.

TwT · April 09, 2008, 06:21:28 AM

me and a few others have been talking about something for about a year now, now we have no facts or stuff like that but we have about come to a conclusion from observations that just like some bee's being mite resistant, that some hives of bee's can handle loads of SHB's and not be bothered while other full hives will collapse, I mean full healthy hives just get beat out by SHB's, and then some hives never have more than 2-3 SHB's at any time. this is just we have observed so no studies done, it could very well be like we are thinking, maybe one day some smart people will approve or disprove this but that is just something I thought I would mention, I have beetles in my hives but never had a problem with them, even starter nuc's never had any problems.........

Understudy · April 09, 2008, 08:17:32 AM

Take a piece of regular cardboard 4"x4". Cover the flat side with duct tape. Fill the waffle grooves with boric acid about halfway. Staple the piece to the bottom board. If you use screened bottom boards staple it to the the top. The duct tape prevents the bees from chewing the cardboard. The SHB like the waffles in the cardboard. They hide in them get coated with boric acid and slowly die.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

tillie · April 09, 2008, 10:25:46 AM

I don't plan to ever put poison in the hive, although maybe vinegar is......, but I sure find the challenge of the SHB fun to try to meet and overcome!!!

Linda T in Atlanta

Understudy · April 09, 2008, 01:49:46 PM

Boric acid(20 Mule team Borax) is basically soap(okay, it's a mineral,sassolite). It isn't a chemical poison. It works great for things like beetles and roaches. Without having to have any nasty residues like some of the pesticides.

You can also put a West Beetle trap on the bottom the hive. This is basically a tray with a cover with very small openings in the cover. You fill the tray with olive oil or food grade mineral oil and the beetles and the larvae fall into it and die. The openings are to small for the bees.

The idea behind any of these is not expose the bees to them, just the beetles.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Apis629 · April 09, 2008, 05:47:33 PM

Quote from: Ross on April 08, 2008, 11:26:07 AM
The other defenses are full sunshine and hard soil. Staying out away from pine trees has anecdotally been recommended as well.

I've actually heard great things about hives placed in sandy areas. Of course, we have plenty of that in Florida.

tillie · April 09, 2008, 11:18:54 PM

I bought several of those new Australian SHB traps from Dadant and the instructions say to cover the trap with a vinyl mat??????

What in the world do they mean? Has anyone used one of small hive beetle traps?

Linda T in Atlanta wondering about vinyl mats

Understudy · April 09, 2008, 11:33:09 PM

Quote from: tillie on April 09, 2008, 11:18:54 PM
I bought several of those new Australian SHB traps from Dadant and the instructions say to cover the trap with a vinyl mat??????

What in the world do they mean? Has anyone used one of small hive beetle traps?

Linda T in Atlanta wondering about vinyl mats

AJ's Beetle Eater. Pick up the vinyl from a carpet place. It is used to prevent the bees from propolising the trap.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

I used some in the demo for my class. They are nice but I am just not into them yet.

durkie · April 10, 2008, 03:03:07 PM

i just leave the cover on the screened bottom board and then pour diatomaceous earth on it before sliding it in. we started that about 2 months ago, and found about 30 dead beetles on it within 3 days. we've since seen one on the board, and zero in the hive, so something tells me that the beetles weren't just getting smart and avoiding the board.

pdmattox · April 10, 2008, 07:14:07 PM

I did not know about the mat thing. Just put mine in monday and will recheck this weekend to see what the verdict is.

tillie · April 10, 2008, 10:49:57 PM

If you search AJ's Beetle Eater on Google, you'll find his web page and on it he also says to put a vinyl mat over the trap -

Linda T in Atlanta who hasn't used my AJs traps yet (no observed SHB to date!!!!!!!)

Understudy · April 10, 2008, 11:29:56 PM

Quote from: tillie on April 10, 2008, 10:49:57 PM
If you search AJ's Beetle Eater on Google, you'll find his web page and on it he also says to put a vinyl mat over the trap -

Linda T in Atlanta who hasn't used my AJs traps yet (no observed SHB to date!!!!!!!)

I can send you some if you want them. :)

Sincerely,
Brendhan

tillie · April 11, 2008, 12:24:27 AM

No thanks - I'm sure they'll show up in a month or two - full force - I now have seven (7) hives OMG! and I expect to be dealing with SHB in all of them, just not yet.

Linda T in Atlanta, a little overwhelmed with bees....when I signed up for the swarm catcher list somehow I didn't get that that meant I would take home the bees I caught. HMMMMM

Brian D. Bray · April 13, 2008, 01:02:16 AM

Quote from: tillie on April 11, 2008, 12:24:27 AM
No thanks - I'm sure they'll show up in a month or two - full force - I now have seven (7) hives OMG! and I expect to be dealing with SHB in all of them, just not yet.

Linda T in Atlanta, a little overwhelmed with bees....when I signed up for the swarm catcher list somehow I didn't get that that meant I would take home the bees I caught. HMMMMM

Those who make the most money with bees either sell the bees or sell their homes.

Mountaineerfan · April 20, 2008, 07:52:45 PM

Linda,
I put my beetle eaters in today. I haven't seen any yet, but I'm doing it as a preventative measure, since I believe that the SHB is the reason my hives left....

Steve

tillie · April 20, 2008, 09:43:13 PM

Steve,

did you use the vinyl cover that they suggest in the directions? And if so, what did you use for the vinyl cover?

Linda T in Atlanta