SHB disaster...ugh. It can happen to yu.

Sir Stungalot · May 17, 2008, 02:00:40 AM

Well, like most of you, I had seen a few of those rats in my hives for the first time last year. I worried, sorta'. Was I proactive? Nope. Was I stupid? Yup.
In the past 4 days, I saw 20 nucs of beautifull Cordovans crash, die, rot, abscond. I am just sick about this. 5 days ago, these nucs were rolling right along..all 20 Queens I purchased were laying and the first solid brood cycle was compleated. Pretty blonde bees everywhere and I was thrilled.

Today, I found the last tiny cluster with a sick Queen 4 ft. from the hive. I carefully picked the ball up and put in a new box with a frame of brood and honey. Just to give you an idea what I found in the old box...first, the stink of fermented fouled honey. 3 frames of slimy, decimated brood-some still trying to get out of their cells, hundreds of squirming nasty filthy maggotish things. A good handfull of adult beetles busily going about their biz.

When you put on of these infested frames in the freezer, you will want to puke when you see all the maggots that pile out of it.

Besides all the $ down the drain, what is really bothering me was the fact that I was poised to make a big expansion this year. Now, I don't know how to do it. It seems I can only do walk-away type splits. Spliting a big hive into 2 parts- both strong. Forget the couple frames of bood and honey + a nuc box. No way------they will be overwhelmed fast.

I guess what I want to tell you all is this- probably I am a lot like the rest of you. Worried but not sure if "treatment" is needed or even how to go about it. Well, if you are planning on small nucs, splits ect. you better be ready. 4 days....that is all it took and I have nothing left. Don't let what happend to me happen to you.

pdmattox · May 17, 2008, 11:13:37 AM

Oh how I feel your pain. Sorry for your loss but don't give up. These things can be controlled with traps. There will be more time spent on management to keep up with the traps but it can be done. I bought the AJ beetle eater and have been quite happy with them. There are other traps out there and some can be made with stuff from around the house. Good luck on the next try. :)

JP · May 17, 2008, 11:32:36 AM

It doesn't take long, no. This happened in a swarm box, I neglected to house the swarm in a timely fashion, so it was my fault. Only took about 4 days though.

Sorry for your loss.

...JP

poka-bee · May 17, 2008, 02:18:58 PM

****shiver*** EEWWWWW, I HATE maggoty type things creep me right out! I'll play w/spiders/snakes/worms & pretty much everything else. I can flick hornets outa the air, squish fleas, pull ticks, but maggoty's????***shiver** I'm afraid I would drop the whole frame..burn em...whatever...makes my skin crawl! BTW, for the people in the PNW, do we have these horrible creatures???? eewwww! Now I'm gonna go out in this beautiful sun & watch my grand-bees orientation flights! Jody

JP · May 17, 2008, 06:42:34 PM

Quote from: poka-bee on May 17, 2008, 02:18:58 PM
****shiver*** EEWWWWW, I HATE maggoty type things creep me right out! I'll play w/spiders/snakes/worms & pretty much everything else. I can flick hornets outa the air, squish fleas, pull ticks, but maggoty's????***shiver** I'm afraid I would drop the whole frame..burn em...whatever...makes my skin crawl! BTW, for the people in the PNW, do we have these horrible creatures???? eewwww! Now I'm gonna go out in this beautiful sun & watch my grand-bees orientation flights! Jody

Hey Jody, John probably looked at these pics and got excited thinking they would make great fish bait!! ;)

...JP

lovelyembalmer · May 17, 2008, 07:18:12 PM

We hate hearing about that :'(

JP: the pictures are worth a thousand words. We all really need to watch our hives.
my husband said he would be very sick if this happened in ours.

annette · May 18, 2008, 12:44:31 AM

We do not have SHB in this area yet, but I hear they are making their way up this direction. Oh my god if I ever have to deal with this.

JP · May 18, 2008, 12:47:14 AM

Quote from: annette on May 18, 2008, 12:44:31 AM
We do not have SHB in this area yet, but I hear they are making their way up this direction. Oh my god if I ever have to deal with this.

Annette, there are those that will disagree with me on this, but I don't see them as a major threat in strong hives, only the weak. My .02

...JP

skullring · May 18, 2008, 11:06:20 AM

I have never had an infestation of SHB that was bad enough to affect the hive but I would always find 10-15 during my inspections that I would crush. My hives were strong so the bees were keeping them pretty well under control. I started using Gardstar as a soil drench about 4 weeks ago I checked my hives yesterday and could not find a single SHB.

DrKurtG · May 18, 2008, 01:12:57 PM

Could someone be kind enough to decipher what "SHB" is for those of us who are not experts?

JP · May 18, 2008, 03:26:30 PM

Quote from: DrKurtG on May 18, 2008, 01:12:57 PM
Could someone be kind enough to decipher what "SHB" is for those of us who are not experts?

Small hive beetle.

...JP

HAB · May 18, 2008, 03:38:29 PM

Here you can find a good description of the SHB. :)

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AA257

annette · May 18, 2008, 04:19:27 PM

[Annette, there are those that will disagree with me on this, but I don't see them as a major threat in strong hives, only the weak. My .02

...JP
[/quote]

OK JP thanks for that info. Hopefully this will not be a part of my life with the bees.

Michael Bush · May 18, 2008, 07:24:02 PM

>Could someone be kind enough to decipher what "SHB" is for those of us who are not experts?

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesglossary.htm

Ross · May 18, 2008, 09:00:58 PM

JP · May 19, 2008, 01:02:32 AM

Quote from: Ross on May 18, 2008, 09:00:58 PM

Now that's getting close!!!

...JP