# 1st inspection and SHB in a Top Bar Hive...



## Skilter (Mar 23, 2011)

Hello all... I am a new beek this season and put a swarm into my 4 foot long TBH 3 weeks ago. The hive has been doing well, but I checked on them today and pulled some bars for the first time. I noticed a couple beetles running around on my screen bottom. They are definitely the SHB. Now I see that a couple are hanging out with just enough space to squeeze between the wall and the follower board. After I am reading up on this stuff I am more confused than ever... Sun, no sun. Bottom board, no bottom board. Keep follower in, take follower out. Plus, it seems most solutions are langstroth based. So, I have some questions...

Is there any treatment opportunities that are specific to TBH hives? If I just saw a couple beetles, what is my time frame for finding a solution? Also, I have another TBH that was just filled with a swarm. Is it pretty much a guarantee that they will get in there too? Should I just pull the follower and let them have the entire hive and insert traps? Oil or no oil? Any thoughts are appreciated.... I am in North Texas.


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## aarnoldross (May 7, 2011)

Hi Skilter. I am a brand new keeper as well, so I don't have any advice for you. I can tell you, though, that I have the same problem and have been told by several people (including someone who responded to one of my threads) that the small hive beetle is simply a part of life in the south. Complete erradication, it seems, is not an option. I have ordered a few traps and I sqash them with my hive tool whenever I see them. Until then I will continue to sift through the massive amounts of (sometimes contradictory) information that you alluded to.


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

I can't help you personally, but this video by the FatBeeMan may be useful to you: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KDPp8H6PU
His trap could easily be adapted to TBHs.

--DeeAnna


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## hula681 (Apr 12, 2011)

I don't have a TBH yet, but i use a AJ's beetle blaster. It is a plastic $.89 thing that you fill with oil. I use vegatable oil. I purchased it from Dadant. You can spray around your hive with Guard Star 40, but only do it at night when all of the bees are inside and try not to get any on the hive or in the hive. You can mix it up and pour it out of a flower watering pot.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

GardStar only kills larva after they enter the ground to pupate. By then your hive has been completely infested with the larva. Get some traps and kill the adults in the hive before they can lay eggs. If you haven't seen the pictures of what an infested hive looks like do a search and find them. You will not be a happy camper if you let them get out of control.


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## Skilter (Mar 23, 2011)

got the little black traps from Georgia Bees and put them in for about a 10 days. Checked third day and 4 beetles, checked 6th day 1 beetle, checked day 10 and NO BEETLES. YEA! I like his little traps too. Easy to use.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

Skilter, are the little black traps are you talking about the AJ traps or somethig else? The AJ traps are made to hang between the frames of Lang hives and I use them in mine. But my question is that I think they will hang between the bars of top bar hives too except that wouldn't they force too much a space between the bars while they are there? The bars of a TBH need to be butt up against each other. Not like the frames in a Lang that already have that space between them. 
I am thinking of putting some of those AJ traps in my TBH too but I figured I was going to have to put them on the floor of the hive and somehow prop them up in the uprite positioin, like perhaps letting the trap hang down between 2 small square pieces of wood or something. Is that what you did? I am pleased to read that they worked for you whatever you did. LampBurner


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