Why No Small HIve Beetle?

[Grandma_DOG]

On the two cutouts last weekend I saw no SHB in either hive. I found it odd and wrote it off to low humidity. It is West Texas after all and 20% humidity is common out there.

Also the soil is a red clayish soil. Didn't seem sandy at all so my guess is that 1) Low humidity 2) Poor soil conditions and 3) Recent freeze set the SHB back.

Or could the SHB numbers explode in 3 months and what I saw was overwintering SHB?

[Scadsobees]

yes, yes, yes, and yes.  :-D

They do explode quickly over 3 months.  We're almost SHB free here (still freezing at night) but they'll be around within acouple of months.

Were these two cutouts somewhat isolated?