# Southern Pennsylvania Small Hive Beetle Has anyone had their hives infested here in?



## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

I've seen a few small hive beetles here and there in the tops of my hives. Fellow beekeepers in my area have told me that small hive beetle are no big deal because it gets too cold here in winter. Is this true? Has anyone in Southern Pennsylvania ever had a hive destroyed by Small Hive Beetle. I have some traps but haven't put them in yet should I bother? My hives are doing well but I fear the beetles I'm actually close to Gettysburg
Any info would be appreciated. Thank You,
Virginia Wolf


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

> no big deal because it gets too cold here in winter. Is this true?


Don`t belive that, our winters get COLD here and I lost all my bees so NO hive bettles in spring RIGHT-- WRONG I have some hives crawling with them now but I did see some in the new packages that came from the west coast.


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

virginiawolf said:


> I've seen a few small hive beetles here and there in the tops of my hives. Fellow beekeepers in my area have told me that small hive beetle are no big deal because it gets too cold here in winter. Is this true? Has anyone in Southern Pennsylvania ever had a hive destroyed by Small Hive Beetle. I have some traps but haven't put them in yet should I bother? My hives are doing well but I fear the beetles I'm actually close to Gettysburg
> Any info would be appreciated. Thank You,
> Virginia Wolf


I had a small problem SHB, ended up being a big problem.
I cleaned up the hive that I lost all my bees,,froze the frames and put cardboard in the bottom of the empty hive. I found more larva. SO I moved all my hives and put them out in the sun, on bare ground.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks Honeyman, It seems whenever I talk to a local and bring up Smallhive Beetles they convincingly convince me not to worry about them and I get optimistic but my instinct is to put some traps in. Since I'm seeing them I fugure they could do damage. Is one pregnant one enough to slime a hive like I've seen in videos or does it take a number of them? 
Thanks for your time! Virginia Wolf


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks Ben Franklin, Ohio and Pa I figure the climates close so I appreciate the confirmation. Sorry you had the problem. My plan is to use some little oil traps with Beetle Juice in them. Do you put traps in now?
Virginia Wolf


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

virginiawolf said:


> I've seen a few small hive beetles here and there in the tops of my hives. Fellow beekeepers in my area have told me that small hive beetle are no big deal because it gets too cold here in winter. Is this true? Has anyone in Southern Pennsylvania ever had a hive destroyed by Small Hive Beetle. I have some traps but haven't put them in yet should I bother? My hives are doing well but I fear the beetles I'm actually close to Gettysburg
> Any info would be appreciated. Thank You,
> Virginia Wolf



SHB live in Northern VT. 


BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

These traps work good in Alabama.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks Guyross and jim 134, I put some various traps in last night and baited them with the beetle juice. The bees looked great! I didn't see any new beetles. I'll report back in regards to whether or not I catch some or if I see a bunch more beetles etc. Good luck to everyone with these pests and with their Honey Bees in general. Great pic of that cd trap Guy. Thank You,
Virginia Wolf


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Maybe "no big deal" because, unless your colony is weakened by some other means SHB won't have much effect on your colony.

SHBs will overwinter in clusters of bees in the North. Sometimes they can be found on the top bars when hives are opened during the winter. Usually North of the M/D Line SHB do the most damage to equipment in a honey house, not in hives. There are exceptions.

I wouldn't worry too much, unless you start to see damage caused by the beetle larvae.

Guys, are the traps designed to trap adult or larval stage beetles or what?


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Hi Mark, It does seem like the bees are managing the beetles just fine but I'm not sure when it goes from like a couple beetle snooping around to when they lay eggs in the hive and it ruins it so thats why I put some traps in. The traps are where the adult beetles go into but can't come out, Hopefully.
This video is of the worst infestation I've seen and apparently it happens to even healthy hives so I don't want to have it happen.

Warning this Small Hive Beetle video may cause nightmares 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lapU_u0kA0c&feature=player_embedded
VirginiaWolf


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Healthy hives where? Alabama? Mississippi? PA? Do what ya gotta do.


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## PDG honey (Jul 31, 2010)

Jeff you got the right idea about the beetles. It starts with just a couple from packages and other beekeepers in the area. Its the swarms of them heading north. I have spoken with many beekeepers from the mountain states. They all said its to cold of a winter for beetles to affect them. This year is a different story. We are constantly running out of beetle juice. They are making there way north and they winter better than the bees. Keep your hives strong. Nucs are more likely to be slimed from one or two beetles. When you start seeing more than 4 beetles on the top bars and lid you have many more than you think you have in the hive. I have showed many locals and guest what our traps will catch in about an hour. They thought they had 4 when they actually had about 40. We keep everything traped and baited. We might lose a nuc every now and then but not hives. The sunkist are killing all the young brown beetles. I haven't seen a live one yet in a while. Our bees are evolving. We also constantly select from colonies that fight the beetles. Hope this helps. Phillip


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I believe that there are regional differences to the impact of SHB on colonies located there. What may become devistating in AL or MS, 4 SHBs, is much less a threat in NY. Or maybe PA.


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

The sunkist are mite killing machines too.


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## PDG honey (Jul 31, 2010)

Just saying if you see four beetles when you open the lid you have more than just four beetles in the hive. Nucs can be slimed by just four beetles in 3 days. 23 days later those 4 beetles become 8,000 beetles. It doesn't matter what location you are in as long as they can get into the ground and pupate. Now 4 beetles will not slime a strong hive. Not what I was saying. I was thinking more short term than long on that statement.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

OK, I definitely had wax moths. I did not see any black beetles until I was draining the stock tank I soaked my foundations in last night. I found 4 that had been hidden on foundations and drowned. I had tons of larva, I assumed they were wax moth larva. Where can I find worm pics? Closeups - I looked at so many worms last night as I was cleaning up my abandoned hive. My hens ate the proceeds for breakfast.


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## delber (Dec 26, 2010)

I'm in Pa and started this year w/ a cutout. I made a mistake in giving some of the old comb that had honey / polen back to the hive on top of the hive. I'm using upper entrances so I drilled a hole in the top and put a empty body on top. Then I put the old comb up there. The problem I had was the bees wouldn't guard the upper box. SHB's got in and I fond larva on one frame inside the hive. I saw the beetles in the comb in the top so I threw it in a pond that's near by (instant fish bait!!! woo hoo) and took that frame and froze it. I am using SBB's so I bought a tray to put under it and I usually find 4-5 beetles in there per week. I'd say that if you have the traps, use them. Regardless of how great of an impact they may have I don't want them to have any impact!!! I haven't seen any other major signs of the beetles in this hive since I took and froze the frame, but I still find at least 2-4 beetles in the oil a week. I also have found a couple larva also in this one particular hive. IMHO Kill them all!!! Any way you can.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

virginiawolf said:


> Hi Mark, It does seem like the bees are managing the beetles just fine but I'm not sure when it goes from like a couple beetle snooping around to when they lay eggs in the hive and it ruins it so thats why I put some traps in. The traps are where the adult beetles go into but can't come out, Hopefully.
> This video is of the worst infestation I've seen and apparently it happens to even healthy hives so I don't want to have it happen.
> 
> Warning this Small Hive Beetle video may cause nightmares
> ...


Man, that's sick. Ya gotta watch all the way to the end of it for the climax! Looks like a, oh never mind!!!


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Gypsi said:


> OK, I definitely had wax moths. I did not see any black beetles until I was draining the stock tank I soaked my foundations in last night. I found 4 that had been hidden on foundations and drowned. I had tons of larva, I assumed they were wax moth larva. Where can I find worm pics? Closeups - I looked at so many worms last night as I was cleaning up my abandoned hive. My hens ate the proceeds for breakfast.


Here's a thread I started the other night with some good pics off of a website I stumbled upon...
http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...tion...seems-especially-good-for-newbie-beeks


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Mark, you are correct on a long term threat level, however, it only takes one beetle to destroy even a strong colony, so long as it can lay its eggs... the majority of the beetles will be hiding in the brood chamber feeding on jelly around the young larvae, so the ones that folks see under the lid are literally just the tip of the iceberg. 

In the north, the long winters and deep freeze levels can certainly be a huge hindrance in their populations, but they mainly overwinter inside the cluster and are fed through winter be the bees themselves as they enter the cells to feed or warm brood. 

In the scenario of one Penn hive with four beetles in it and one Southern hive with four beetles in it, neither one is safer than the other, so long as they are equal in all aspects...

The beetle is an opportunistic creature... they know how to take their time and await the perfect moment to provide the best situation for their young... keep in mind that these creatures have thrived almost completely on honey bee colonies for thousands of years... they know how to manipulate bees better than we do. The bees in their native land have adapted to them (NOT what we want in this case! Being that those bees had developed smaller nests and since there is no winter, they could abscond at the slightest disturbance and set up a new nest quickly)... our bees have to contend with winter and they understand that they can not just abandon the nest that they have committed so much time and stored all of their resources in... 

The beetles will feed on the jelly around the larvae in the brood chamber, leaving tiny traces of slime in the cells as the do... the queen then shunns that area of the nest... so as the beetles continue to do this, the brood area grows smaller and smaller... it doesn't take long before the queen gives up and turns her nose up at the entire hive... when she absconds the hive that was already hurting do to the lack of brood production from lack of space to lay, will be seriously weakened... that's when the beetles go into overdrive and start to lay... each one laying about 2,000 eggs that will quickly become crawling larvae that will produce a much stronger pheromone drawing in more beetles to lay and chasing the bees from the combs as they create more deterrent slime...

Late summer, early fall is prime time for beetles to do this because the food source is high, the population is focussed on cooling the hives and foraging, and the brood area is already a bit smaller at this time from the queens shutting down some during the earlier dirth... 

I am fascinated with almost all insects, but the only thing that I care to do with shb is squish, squash, crunch. Lol.


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Gypsi said:


> OK, I definitely had wax moths. I did not see any black beetles until I was draining the stock tank I soaked my foundations in last night. I found 4 that had been hidden on foundations and drowned. I had tons of larva, I assumed they were wax moth larva. Where can I find worm pics? Closeups - I looked at so many worms last night as I was cleaning up my abandoned hive. My hens ate the proceeds for breakfast.


Were the combs filled with webbing? That's how you will know for sure. If it was wax moths, the worms start out tiny and yellow and become about 1"-1.25" long light - grey in color and are Always accompanied by webbing throughout the combs... 

If it was beetles, it only takes one adult beetle to have thousands of 1/4"-1/2" larvae pouring through the combs... no webbing, just a runny mess and foul odor.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Mr. Russell, would you think a small scale beek like myself would be better to do a soil drench of GardStar or introduction of something like Heterorhabditis indica nematodes?

Ed


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Ed, I would recommend that you use permethrin 38% as a ground drench Only after a hive has been slimed... apply after dark, on a windless evening... 

Aside from that, keep your traps fresh and open (don't forget that the girls will propilize them).. be ready to drenching the ground around hives that get slimed to keep the beetles from progressing their population and stay on top of things enough to catch the sliming process early so you can salvage hives and/or combs.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Hi Robert, Thank You for responding! You really helped clarify the harmful potential of the beetles. I really appreciate it. My decision is to definitely have traps in all my hives. The increase in beetles lately goes right along with what you wrote. Reading this and other posts you have written on has been really enlightening and inspiring. I'm a huge Russell Apiaries fan I hope the season is going smooth for you, your team members, and your awesome bees. Jeff


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