# AJ's Beetle Eater traps



## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

*Just installed beetle eaters*

Hi Ginger,

(Oops...I just realized what you were asking about after I posted...the device seems a bit strange, but may work well...will be curious to hear if anyone has tried this other way)

I just installed the AJ beetle eater traps in my two hives. I have only had the hives for about one month and the small hive beetles were arriving in droves-so I'm giving them a try. I noticed that some people recommend using them with a cover over it and others appear to not bother. I'm going for not covering them with anything else right now but would love to hear feedback from others on what they have found works. Also, filling up those little traps is a pain, I'm working on a way to do it with the tops still on and without spilling the vegetable oil all over the place (I'm thinking a syringe with a small tube that will attach to it-helps to be a nurse at this time).

In my efforts to control SHB I also just ordered Heterorhabditis indica nematodes that specifically eat up the SHB when they pupate in the ground. The University of Florida is recommending it as a way of "possibly" controlling SHB but they say it hasn't been field tested yet (they did do controlled trials that showed it works). It will probably be a while before I can say anything good or bad about this technique, but I figured for $20.00 to cover 25 hives worth of nematodes it certainly wouldn't hurt.

DebCP


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## ajs beetle eater (Feb 21, 2008)

*ajs beetle eater*

Hi JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW WHY I THINK USING A MAT TO COVER THE BEETLE EATERS IS WISE IT STOPS THE BEES FROM PLUGGING THE TRACKS UP WITH WAX THANKS AJ.


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

I just started using them last year. We don't have hive beetles in this area. LOL. I have one yard that is surrounded by migratory yards and the beetle showed up two years ago. Terrible survival rate in that yard too. I put the traps in the six hives I keep there and when I examined the lone survivor this year I had put one trap at each level. The only trap with beetles was the one directly over the brood nest. It was completely full. It looks like the beetles like to stay close to the warmth of the cluster in the winter and probably look for a place to hide when it gets warm enough for the bees to break cluster.

That isn't much experience, and I hope I don't get much more. I'm probably going to move out of that location and get rid of all the equipment I have there, since I don't have beetles any place else and I don't see much prospect of keeping them under control with several hundred to a thousand hive moving in every spring. I'm only keeping bees there because the landowner is a friend and he really wants a few hives on his property.


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

I am trying this method but now is not the right time to be testing. The beetles cause more trouble later in the year. They typically get knocked back by the winter a good bit but in one bee season can overtake a hive if something is not done if in a signficant SHB area.

They would work better with solid bottom boards as well. I am considering putting them on top of a inner cover since I am using screened bottom boards. I just don't want the boric acid to be able to fall in the hive from he top.


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## summer1052 (Oct 21, 2007)

I use the traps. In my climate, the beetles slow down, but do not die off, over winter.

I DO cover the traps -- the beetles like to run under the cover to hide, and then go into the trap. I use a roll of vinyl -- NOT the sticky contact kind -- that you use on the shelves of kitchen cupboards. I cut a strip about three times as wide as the trap, and jsut lay it over.

Some people have commented on difficulty filling the traps with oil. I use a cork/pouring spout combo that you buy at grocery or gourmet stores that run 3/$1.00 or so. I put that in an old bottle filled with Crisco. I take the top of the trap off, tap out any dead beetles, and replace the top. Then I run a bead of oil along the top. The pour spout gives just the right amount. Replace the strip of vinyl, and it's all done. I clean the traps every 2-3 weeks in summer.

If I find larvae in the hive, I wrap those frames as is in a plastic garbage bag, tie it, and freeze it for at least 24 hours. I put it back in the hive, and the bees clean it up. Fire ants will eat the larvae. 

Screened bottom boards did not help in my case, as it just created an area the bees could not access, where the beetles could run wild. These girls seem to do better with plain wood bottoms. They keep them really clean. I have ventilators ON TOP of my hives, so that is not an issue. Not exactly what others are doing, but it works for me.

SHB are sap beetles who have adapted to foraging for honey. They like dark cool places with lots of trees around. They seem to breed less in open ground in the sun. I keep the area under and around my hives BARE. Then I can spot beetles, fire ants, etc., that are around.

Some anecdotal evidence from other users on Beesource suggest that those hives that make and use LOTS of propolis, will use propolis over the traps. My girls aren't big on propolis, so I can't confirm that. But it makes sense.

GL

Summer


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## ajs beetle eater (Feb 21, 2008)

*Summer1052*

:no:HI SUMMER AJ HERE PLEASE LISTEN TO SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS HOLD THE OIL CHAMBER LEVEL IN ONE HAND WITH TRACK REMOVED,USING A SAUCE DISPENSER POUR IN THE OIL FROM ONE END,IF YOU LOOK IN THE BEETLE EATER YOU WILL SEE THE OIL RUN OVER THE BAFFLES IN THE OIL CHAMBER,FILL TO JUST COVER THE BAFFLES.THEN HOOK THE TRACK ON ONE END FIRST THEN CLICK ON THE OTHER END.S.H.B WILL NOT ENTER THE BEETLE EATERS IF THERE IS OIL ON THE TRACKS THANKS AJ.


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## summer1052 (Oct 21, 2007)

I clean out about 6-12 every time I open the hive. And I rarely see beetles in the hive. It seems to work for this fumble fingered old fogey. Now, if I could just get my bifocals to cooperate on distance . . . 

Sum


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