Small Hive Beetle

ozebee · February 21, 2013, 12:18:34 AM

Some 4 weeks ago i collected a small swarm and put it in a 5 frame Nuc box. It was developing nicely, making lots of fresh comb and the queen was already laying eggs. I decided to help it along and fed them some 2 litres of sugar syrup as weather was not the best and probably not much nectar about. About a week ago while making a brief inspection I found 2 or tree beetles in the box which i killed. I thought that I should put in the Apithor trap in the box - but I neglected to do it.

Yesterday i went past the hive and saw no activity - opened it up and they were ALL gone!!!
Pulled out some frames and they were absolutely swarming with beetle larvae and very sticky. On the attached photo you can still see some after a lot of shaking out!! Very nasty indeed!!
I wonder if feeding the sugar water was responsible.

Chevy · February 21, 2013, 02:51:26 AM

That sucks... I hate SHB.... With a passion.... Did they swarm again close?

kanga · February 21, 2013, 03:39:31 AM

I just found this post on another forum in which some beekeepers do feel that the SHB is attracted to the sugar syrup:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-233009.html

Kevin

ShaneJ · February 21, 2013, 04:28:35 AM

Maybe I am not traveled enough but I don't believe in Australia we need to feed at all. There is always something in flower that will provide food for a few hives in one location. 2 litres is an awful lot also. They possibly filled all the cells and then swarmed out. Did you have 5 drawn frames in the nuc?

ozebee · February 21, 2013, 06:15:30 AM

Shane, only two frames were fully drawn so I was helping them out with the sugar syrup to draw the extra combs as well as stimulating the Queen to start laying. I am sure they swarmed because of the infestation of larvae - I have seen it before.

No idea where they went to but they were nowhere to be seen on any close by trees.

max2 · February 22, 2013, 03:35:54 AM

In Queensland we should not have to feed.
SHB can increase in numbers really fast. As the slime the hive the bees will leave - it stinks to us as well.
I use traps with pretty good success but it is important to change them regularly - every 3 weeks in my case.
Make sure you kill all beetles , larvae and eggs. Equipment can be re-used but for frames it is a very messy job and I generally just burn the bad ones.

Charles Sen · March 17, 2013, 12:46:55 AM

What kind of traps are thebest to use? I am absolutely new at this. I use Apithor Harbourage as I noticed 5 beetles 2 days ago in my new hive. I checked again today and found none but did find one dead beetle outside the hive near the entrance. I am going to be installing a new bottom board after easter which has a grill at the front and back with two oil traps below them. I was speaking to a local keeper and he has had good success with them.

dermot · March 17, 2013, 01:46:09 AM

We've been using the chux style wipes (homebrand 50 for a coupla bucks), folded into large squares and placed on top of the frames between boxes. The spurs on the beetles legs get caught in the fibres, trapping them until they starve. The bees will constantly chase the beetles but are unable to pierce their exterior, so having somewhere to chase the beetles to gives them a great hand. They are also a great monitoring tool as it provides a picture of what's been happening between visits. It's not a total solution but certainly helps and is super cheap and easy.

Charles Sen · March 17, 2013, 02:49:46 AM

Great tip, thanks! I'll try that next time I open up. I saw two bees very excited exiting the hive via the landing board fighting over something. It looked like a small hive beetle. One of them carried it up and off into the distance.

Charles Sen · March 18, 2013, 08:01:29 AM

Would there be any point in reducing the size of the entrance when the weather cools? Seems to me these pests just fly in and I have seena few attempting to so if the entrance was smaller it would be harder for them to get in the hive in the first place making it easier for the bees to keep them out. Or is this a silly idea?

Lone · March 18, 2013, 12:48:11 PM

QuoteWould there be any point in reducing the size of the entrance when the weather cools? Seems to me these pests just fly in and I have seena few attempting to so if the entrance was smaller it would be harder for them to get in the hive in the first place making it easier for the bees to keep them out. Or is this a silly idea?

Sure, Charles. Reduce the entrance to what the bees can guard, as well as the space inside. If it don't help, it won't hurt neither.

Lone

Joe D · March 19, 2013, 02:22:15 AM

Less area to guard, it will help with robbing anyway. I lost 1 hive in the fall to other hives robbing. Back to the SHB's, they are attracted to a weak hive, supposedly to cooking shortening,and who knows what all. What is the chux style wipes, haven't heard of that. I use the traps with some success. Oh, I wouldn't shake the larvae out on the ground. When they hatch out the crawl out of hive and go to ground and come out in a few weeks to a few months, or thats what I think. Good luck to you and your bees.

Joe

ozebee · March 19, 2013, 02:37:58 AM

Just as a follow on to what to do with the larvae etc in the frames and how to clean them up. I shook out what I could onto concrete and squashed them all. I then put the frames in a plastic bag and into the freezer for a couple of days. All the larvae were certainly dead but I am not sure about any eggs. Anyway, when i took them out from the freezer I reused them in a strong hive and they were cleaned out nicely very quickly. That method certainly worked for me but it would be interesting to hear what the experts say to that.

Joe D · March 19, 2013, 02:02:51 PM

Didn't mean to imply that you did, just saying thats not the thing to do. When I first started with bee, a fellow gave me a small swarm in a TBH. They had SHB's and I did shake them onto black plastic and smash some but some could have gotten off and made it. Now I know better.

Joe

RC · March 21, 2013, 08:34:28 AM

Quote from: dermot on March 17, 2013, 01:46:09 AM
We've been using the chux style wipes (homebrand 50 for a coupla bucks), folded into large squares and placed on top of the frames

Forgive my ignorance, what is a chux style wipe?

kanga · March 21, 2013, 09:16:37 AM

RC
If you have a look at the below post you will see a photo of chux being used to trap SHB.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk123/ozbee_photos/SANY0023_zps58af6098.jpg

Kevin

Joe D · March 21, 2013, 11:28:08 AM

Thanks for the link, Kanga wasn't sure either what a chux is.

Joe

RC · March 21, 2013, 12:52:27 PM

That looks familiar, I'll have to track them down.

Nico · March 21, 2013, 06:50:35 PM

Hi Dermot,
I was talked into using the Chucks and found that the bees were caught in it as well as the beetle.
The bees actually started chewing it up and dragging it down through the excluder.
I was concerned that the queen could be caught up in the remnants,so I removed it.
At the moment I am using AJ and Apithor traps.I intend to try the mats when I purchase some.
Nico

Intheswamp · March 21, 2013, 11:57:50 PM

Handi Wipes...