# Hive beetles.....4 days after installing new bees??? HELP!



## Lazer128 (Dec 15, 2012)

Are you sure they are SHBs? Can you post a pic?


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

First off, don't panic. Next visit FatBeeMan's YouTube channel. There he shows you how to make a couple of different homemade beetle traps that work.

What a lot of people do not realize is that SHBs FLY. That is one of the ways they spread and may be how you got so many so quickly. If you have screened bottom boards, there is a post on here somewhere showing you how to adapt them to oil tray traps for SHBs, too.

Good luck!


Rusty


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

No. Not sure. Here's a pic.


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## Broadside (Mar 29, 2012)

Yep that's SHB. If you have pollen patties I would pull them or cut them down to just what the bees can take in a couple days (that's what I do). Get some traps quick...I use Freeman beetles traps for my bottom boards. I have to say though, that's a ton of beetles, you must of caught a swarm of the wrong kind of bug!


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

Hooray.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

More than likely when you got your package you got those at no extra charge. You might want to do a mite check


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I live in the woods. The bees came from a very reputable supplier near me. It's 48 degrees here but it looks like the cd case and mineral oil thing would work. I have those items but ill have to open the hive for it. The bees won't like that.


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## Broadside (Mar 29, 2012)

Those beetles were probably clustered with the bees to keep warm when they were shook. Are they on new foundation or do you have comb? The plus is you slip a few traps in there, and if they are just hitch hikers you're gonna trap a lot of them real quick. But either way they are in your area so might as well set up traps from the start since they will be back. 
BTW you can slide a few traps in without worry at 48, I'm assuming this was a package and not a nuc with brood.


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

First if you installed from a package of bees they probably did not come with the bees. But if from a NUC purchase probably. Here in Texas we have a big SHB problem and they will find your hive and fly in late evening to lay eggs in the comb. A strong hive is the best defense. I run Freeman oil traps on all of my hives (Country Rubes bases with deep oil trays), and the beetlejail in hive traps with drone foundation with very good results (link below). I run one in my top brood chamber in each box. However if they have already overwhelmed your hive you may loose it. Inspect your frames looking for larvae (look like maggots) and kill every beetle you can (they are egg laying machines). You can also try some Goldstar on the dirt around your hives which will kill the larvae that drop out of the hive to pupate into adult beetles. 
http://beetlejail.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=36
The owner Dave is very helpful, has good products.
Good luck and I hope you win!


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

Holy crap. Thats a ton of money down the drain if I lose this hive. As a new beekeeper, I read about this, but was NOT prepared for it. Where can I buy a freeman trap? It will take a week to get here. Is Overnight available? Its 48 degrees here, what in the world am I supposed to do right now? I havent even opened my hive for my first inspection. Its a hive top feeder with sugar syrup.


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

http://store.countryrubes.com/
Their hardware is dipped in 350 F wax with rosin so you never have to paint, very good hardware.
Did you start with a NUC or a package bee set?
Go into your hive and kill as many beetles as you can with your hive tool. Be extra careful to not loose or damage your queen. Loosing some worker is not a big hit as the queen can lay 1200-1800 eggs a day, BUT it takes ~23 days for workers to go from egg to hatching. If you can find the following type of beetle jails locally put one on each side with mineral oil in it with a touch of honey for an attractant. only fill 1/3-1/2 full. You can check these every couple of days to see if they need to be cleaned out of dead beetles. These also worked for me and may be faster to find. They fit between frames 1&2 or 9&10 usually.
http://beetlejail.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=63


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## Verick369 (Jan 11, 2013)

The best way to get rid of hive beetles (even better than traps in my and several other beekeepers I know's experience,) is to get the hives onto something like concrete. The beetle life cycle requires their larvae to bury themselves into the ground below the hive. They love wet, soft soil. If you can get your hive as far from the ground (on cinder blocks, a pallet, or some kind of stand), and potentially onto some hard, dry soil, (concrete works best,) the beetles in there will reproduce and die on their own, then their larvae will be unable to live and repopulate the hive, and the problem will go away on its own. Otherwise your time to fix it can be short. I have seen beetles wipe out a hive in less than a month.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I prepared an area for my hives with weed barrier, a THIN layer of mulch, and the hives are on top of cinderblocks such that the hives are resting on the block edges so mites and beetles will fall to the ground. I can't mess with them until the weekend really, but I might be able to build a type of sandwich box trap with mineral...or vegetable oil. I have a hive top feeder with syrup in it now, so I thought I could just put the traps strait into the hive top feeder for the beetles. What can I use for beetle attractant?


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

brazosdog02 said:


> Holy crap. Thats a ton of money down the drain if I lose this hive. As a new beekeeper, I read about this, but was NOT prepared for it. Where can I buy a freeman trap? It will take a week to get here. Is Overnight available? Its 48 degrees here, what in the world am I supposed to do right now? I havent even opened my hive for my first inspection. Its a hive top feeder with sugar syrup.


In my first post I mentioned a thread on here about converting a SBB into a beetle trap. That thread is located HERE. It's got to be faster than sending away for something. The only thing is that I'd bolt or nail or screw the thing together instead of trying to glue it. And there are plans here on the site for screened bottom boards if you don't already have one.

HTH

Rusty


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

brazosdog02 said:


> What can I use for beetle attractant?


They like grease patties (as in solid Crisco or the like) and I believe cider vinegar is another attractant they favor.

Rusty


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

OK. My sandwich tray things fit just inside the hive top feeder without falling into the syrup. Im going to drill 1/4" holes in the top of it...maybe 4-6 of them. Put some apple cider vinegar in a little 'coke bottle lid' inside, and then put vegetable oil in the surrounding area. This I can do right now, tonight. That will hopefully get them trapped and killed. Ill look into the freeman traps, but since I already have a screened bottom board, im going to look at the post listed here for the oil pan mod. Wish me luck!


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## Beewildered61 (Apr 5, 2012)

Verick369 said:


> The best way to get rid of hive beetles (even better than traps in my and several other beekeepers I know's experience,) is to get the hives onto something like concrete. The beetle life cycle requires their larvae to bury themselves into the ground below the hive. They love wet, soft soil. If you can get your hive as far from the ground (on cinder blocks, a pallet, or some kind of stand), and potentially onto some hard, dry soil, (concrete works best,) the beetles in there will reproduce and die on their own, then their larvae will be unable to live and repopulate the hive, and the problem will go away on its own. Otherwise your time to fix it can be short. I have seen beetles wipe out a hive in less than a month.


 We had a beekeeper's club meeting last night, had a guy with years of experience, was telling us of a researcher he knows (I think it was Jennifer Berry) with the U of GA, said putting tar paper under the hive would prevent the larva from reaching the soil. She had a hive inside a building, with tar paper underneath, the larva crawled out across the room, through the office and was found on the doorstep 30 feet away. I have heard of them crawling farther..... You can buy nematodes to put in the soil that will destroy the larva as soon as the bury into the ground.

Last year I had a hive destroyed in 3 days from SHB.... I have a new hive that I have a swarm in, I just caught 3 weeks ago. This evening I already saw SHB flying around it... I checked my other hive with the Freeman's beetle trap and had about a dozen dead beetles in it....

Also this same guy from the meeting last night lives within about 2-4 miles from a big farmers market, he has lots of beetles but he knows how to deal with them.... I went to his house to buy some equipment once and he showed them to me, he says they are so many around his house because they are also attracted to rotting fruit...so if you have an orchard or anything like that around you will probably have a lot also.

They say, if you can put the hive in the full sun, it is best, the beetles don't like light and high temps, the bees can deal with it....


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

:thumbsup:

Rusty


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Sounds good here too. I used the fiberglass weed cloth from Lowes under all of my hives (primarily to stop weed/grass paths for ants to my hives).


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

Its in as full as sun as I can get it. I DID take that into account. Where it is, the heat builds fast. I put my sandwich things in. If there is even a few in it in the morning, then that means its working. I killed all I saw on the lid the three times I opened it. THese are NEW hives...just beeswax foundation. SO, they shouldnt have honey stored yet. Hopefully the beetles will be attracted to the syrup and then over to the apple cider vinegar/sugar/banana bait and drown in the oil there. Since the hive top feeder keeps bees from getting into it, I suppose I could just leave the lid off altogether for the sandwich thing...I dunno. Thanks for your help, everyone.


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## Belewsboy (Jun 6, 2012)

Put your hives in full sun. If this was a 3 lb package, I would pull out half of my frames. This will put more bees covering your frames and give the beetles less places to hide. The bees will run the beetles off the frames. As your bee population grows you can slowly add more frames. Then work on the outside area of the yard like the above posts state. I wish you good luck. It is so disheartening to have something like this happen right out of the box.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

One question:

The 'oil tray' post as well as the freeman style trap.....if i just get a baking pan and put it under my screened board, and shim it so that the top is no more than 1/16" from the under side of the bottom board, then that will work right? I just fill that with a little bit of mineral oil? Is it that simple? I can do the carpentry, but for now, shimming would be easier if it will work effectively.




> Put your hives in full sun. If this was a 3 lb package, I would pull out half of my frames. This will put more bees covering your frames and give the beetles less places to hide. The bees will run the beetles off the frames. As your bee population grows you can slowly add more frames. Then work on the outside area of the yard like the above posts state. I wish you good luck. It is so disheartening to have something like this happen right out of the box.


The place where my hives are is an 11'x11' area with landscaping fabric (weed cloth) and 2" of mulch. The hives are in this area on cinderblocks so they are elevated. I think this is about as good as it gets, and I hate to use pesticides YET.


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

Sure. It should work as long as there is no place else for them to go, enough mineral oil for them to drown in, and no way for them to crawl back up into the hive or out of the trap. You can always get fancy later.

Rusty


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

How do they end up in the bottom? Is it from the bees chasing them down and/or them falling through the screen? There is no attractant for it.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Rusty Hills Farm said:


> In my first post I mentioned a thread on here about converting a SBB into a beetle trap. That thread is located HERE. It's got to be faster than sending away for something. *The only thing is that I'd bolt or nail or screw the thing together instead of trying to glue it.* And there are plans here on the site for screened bottom boards if you don't already have one.
> 
> HTH
> 
> Rusty


I'm lost on the glue reference, Rusty. :scratch: Want to expound on that a bit for me so I can comment on it? 

Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

brazosdog02 said:


> How do they end up in the bottom? Is it from the bees chasing them down and/or them falling through the screen? There is no attractant for it.


The bees are constantly harassing or guarding the beetles. Lots of beetles are bumped loose from the comb and fall to the bottom board. I think you're getting a good idea of what's going on. I don't use attractant in my oil trays though I have heard of folks doing so. I do use them in my Beetle Jail Juniors (great traps, btw!) Basically I look at small hive beetle protection as a 3-phase program....top of hive, body of hive, bottom of hive. If you can get good protection in all three places along with having your hive in a sunny, dry location that is about the best you can do. 

Don't forget your hive tool....an excellent tool for smushing beetles though I use my fingertip most of the time. If you are using telescoping hives you can sit the cover on the ground and sit a hive body down on it with a little "bump"....let it sit there a few minutes and when you pick it back up lots of time there will be some beetles that were dislodged from the combs and are walking around on the inside of the cover....good targets. 

You're in Texas, you're gonna live with beetles from here on out...prepare now. 

Best wishes,
Ed


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

It was the epoxy, I believe, that you said wasn't holding. Brazosdog needs something to slap together in a hurry, as I understand it, so screws would do that for a temp fix. Then he mentioned shimming it, which would also hold temporarily. My comment was certainly not meant as a slam, Ed, just an attempt to help with an emergency fix.

And Brazosdog, the bees will chase them and they will bail under the screen to escape, which is why it needs to be deep enough to drown them and not offer them any way back.

Rusty


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Do not worry about treating the ground right now, those beetles are flying in from everywhere and you only have to worry about a ground treatment if they're reproducing in the hive which they shouldn't be. You need to trap those adults or keep a minimal amount of frames in the hive so the bees keep the beetles off. Just smash all the ones u see and put some traps in the top and make sure the bees are keeping them in check.


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## trance (Mar 29, 2013)

I had a beetle show up and I have no bees, not sure if it is a hive beetle or not as this site isn't allowing me to post pictures...?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Beewildered61 said:


> putting tar paper under the hive would prevent the larva from reaching the soil.


If they are producing larvae in your hive…you’re already in serious trouble. It is really important to stop them before they get to that point.
If you installed a package of bees and within four days you had hundreds of shb…you have a serious problem. As pointed out a healthy, big population of bees is the best defense, in my opinion, but starting out with an infestation before the hive has had a chance to get established eliminates that.
I am not recommending this but will tell you that many beekeepers in areas of high shb infestation (South GA/FL) get ‘beetle barns’ and bait them with a roach bait containing fipronil. If it works for those folks….you might be able to do something like it temporarily to see if you can knock them back. There’s a youtube video on the subject…John Pluta…you can find it via Google.
Or…if you want to remain legal you can put a small strip of Checkmite in the barn.
Good luck.


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Here is how to post a picture:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?225753-Image-Posting-Rules

Look at the picture at the beginning of this thread and if yours looks like those yes it is. Here in the South we have a big SHB base as there is little winter to reduce the population. True or not one beek told me a SHB will fly 3 miles to get to a hive, smell?

On adding the oil tray make sure you do not have bee space access to the oil or you will also find a bunch of dead bees. I had that problem once. We all hope you win the war!


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Rusty Hills Farm said:


> It was the epoxy, I believe, that you said wasn't holding. Brazosdog needs something to slap together in a hurry, as I understand it, so screws would do that for a temp fix. Then he mentioned shimming it, which would also hold temporarily. My comment was certainly not meant as a slam, Ed, just an attempt to help with an emergency fix.
> 
> And Brazosdog, the bees will chase them and they will bail under the screen to escape, which is why it needs to be deep enough to drown them and not offer them any way back.
> 
> Rusty


No slam taken, Rusty! Just was confused,...sorry if I came off as being indignant.  

The epoxy was only used on the runners that were glued onto the bottom of the metal trays. I've moved away from using epoxy and the runners as the runners would "pop" off the bottom of the trays...I either did not clean the bottom of the trays well enough or it's just not a good combination (non-stick pan and epoxy). I did sand the finish off where I glued the runners on but with some flexing it just didn't work out for me. I'm since started working with the lip of the tray hanging on what is basically a ledge...much, much akin to slotted designs. My problem is that I don't have a woodworking shop and I'm trying to keep the basic ISOT "simple". 

The glue comes in when you attach the extension rails to the bottom board. These rails get a liberal amount of Titebond III smeared on them and then I nail them to the bottom rails of the bottom board with three nails.

For a quick fix all you need to do is slide a piece of 1x wood (3/4") under each side rail of the hive to raise the hive up. Then shim the tray beneath to insure that the gap between tray and bottom board is too small for bees to crawl through. *Be sure* that you have the tray shimmed properly and that there is no gap around the perimeter of the tray that the bees can enter. What turned me away from the runners and epoxy on the metal trays was when a runner popped off...I was in a hurry and simply wedged the runner back underneath the pan. A couple of days later I pulled the tray out to check it....I was shocked to see 50-60 dead bees in the oil. What I didn't know was that the front end of the runner wasn't properly underneath the front corner (towards the entrance end) of the tray...this caused the slightly flexible tray to dip down at that point. I didn't notice this from working behind the hive...it was then that I decided I'd try to figure some other way of elevating the trays.

As for the oil in the tray... For regular "maintenance" type of use I don't think it needs to be deep....just deep enough so that it will adequately cover the entire bottom of the pan. From what I understand the beetle's breathing apparatus is on the bottom of it's body so it could drown and never get the top of it's shell wet with the oil. I would be happy with oil three or four times deep as the beetles are tall....I'm using a pint per tray and it seems to work good. Lots of oil makes for good videos but I don't think it makes for easy, non-spilling handling of the oil trays. BUT...if you have a really heavy infestation of beetle and are just installing the tray for the first time or two, I would imagine you would need a good bit of oil to give enough depth so the beetle bodies can pile up in the oil. 

A tactic that I've read about but haven't tried is this... Take a big "tote"...one of those big plastic boxes folks store stuff in. Build a screen out of #8 mesh wire that will completely cover the plastic box. Mix a few inches of soapy water up in the box and place the screen on top. You can take individual frames and "bump" them against the palm of your hand or rap them with your hive tool to dislodge beetles. When the beetles fall they hit the screen and go through it, hitting the soapy water below. I would think you could take a box (if it was light enough) and shake it a couple of times to rattle the frames to dislodge some of the beetles. Here's a link where Beeboy01 details his (read the thread, he uses 1/4" mesh) soapy box remedy...this link is to a particular message of his that included a link to some pictures of this setup... http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...-of-Small-Hive-Beetles!!!&p=760903#post760903

Best wishes in obliterating the beetles!!!
Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

trance said:


> I had a beetle show up and I have no bees, not sure if it is a hive beetle or not as this site isn't allowing me to post pictures...?


trance, do you have any other apiaries close by? Agricultural fields? I've heard of clouds of beetles flying over old melon fields where the rotting damage fruit gives them a wonderful feeding /breeding ground....they probably do the same with other fruit/vegetable fields. I may be mistaken but I think I read where the beetles first entered the country via boatloads of imported fruit (melons?)...it seems I recall that beetles were first thought to have entered the USA via southeast Georgia.

Ed


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Okay READ THIS CLOSELY you need to also get some gaurdstar, find a location to move you hive too, and drench the ground real well then after a day move your hive to this location.... this will break the beetle cycle.... without that your just in a long drawn out battle with adult beetles, which you will lose.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

gmcharlie said:


> Okay READ THIS CLOSELY you need to also get some gaurdstar, find a location to move you hive too, and drench the ground real well then after a day move your hive to this location...


Not to be too argumentative but....in my opinion, if your hives are dropping small hive beetle larvae the battle has already been lost.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

Does anyone know if Orthoboric Acid is the same as Boric Acid and safe to use in a 'cd case trap'? I found it at a local home supply store as a roach poison, but the active ingredient is Orthoboric Acid.

As for the Guardstar, moving these hives is not going to be an option. There are no hives within a few miles and havent been in years. These flew in or were in the package. I think that if I can get them under control via traps, then the problem will be handled. Id like to try to avoid chemicals if I can. This morning, under the lid, I found 20 beetles maybe.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

I have to respectfully disagree, charlie. We are in for a long, drawn out battle with beetles whether we use guardstar or not. Gardstar will help possibly reduce the number of beetles produced at any one site IF the beetles are allowed to get that far out of control. But there's plenty of wild areas in which the beetles can propagate that will never see any type of beetle control, be it poisons or traps. Beetles have been noted to have better long distance flight capabilities than honey bees and an incredible ability to smell/detect a bee colony from *miles* away. Even if you sterilize the ground and create a dead-zone around your beeyard that beetles can reproduce in there will still be plenty of beetles elsewhere that will quickly move in on you.

We all have our ideas... I believe that what *I* should do is practice beetle "control" rather than think I can do away with them and not have to stay proactive in controlling them. I *can* attain control, but I will never be able to completely win against them, either. Thus, I'm in for the long drawn out battle. Gardstar may be a tool that I could use in my battle but I certainly don't think I'm going to lose the battle if I don't use it...I believe there are more important tools than gardstar.

I'm curious...how heavy of a beetle infestation are you seeing in Illinois? 

Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

brazosdog02 said:


> <snip> This morning, under the lid, I found 20 beetles maybe.


Are you using telescoping covers or migratory? Some beeks down in Australia are using "handi-wipes" to trap beetles...the beetles have barbs on their legs that get caught in the "fuzz" of the material. They recommend "roughing up" the wipes to make them a bit more fuzzier....I threw some in the dryer with a few other items to help rough them up. Bees will also get caught in the fuzz so I'm only trying them out between the isolated inner cover and top cover...the jury is still out on my experiment with them. There has also been mention of using them inside of cd cases that were placed inside the hive...monitoring them to be sure the bees don't seal up the holes is naturally required.

I found a pack of eight of "Buddy Wipes" for a dollar at....the Dollar Tree. Cheap enough to give it a try! 

Best wishes,
Ed


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## trance (Mar 29, 2013)

Intheswamp said:


> trance, do you have any other apiaries close by? Agricultural fields? I've heard of clouds of beetles flying over old melon fields where the rotting damage fruit gives them a wonderful feeding /breeding ground....they probably do the same with other fruit/vegetable fields. I may be mistaken but I think I read where the beetles first entered the country via boatloads of imported fruit (melons?)...it seems I recall that beetles were first thought to have entered the USA via southeast Georgia.
> 
> Ed


I can't look in everyone's backyard but I've seen a hive box a mile away (1 box) and I know of 3 or 5 hive boxes at a blueberry fay. rm 4 miles away. I border wetlands... 

When I go to add a picture the extra screen shows up but its blank...???


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Pretty big problem weak hives will be wiped out... Didn't mean to say gaurdstar will solve the problem, but without it you cannot get ahead.. with each surviving beetle raising about 200 larve, you need to attack the larve also to be succesful... I keep moving the outyards so they are not as bad. My home yard where I raise queens and weak hives is a constant battle.


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

So far the only other method is trapping... and I have not seen a trap worth a dang.. they will all catch "some" but by and large the beetles win. If you have them leave a honey frame in the garage for a few days and see how many you really have.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I got in touch with my apiary. They said to remove the feeders and put the syrup in a bucket with screen in the vicinity. If they bees don't have food, they will find it. That should remove most of the attractant to the hive. I have done that. I tried to inspect the hive, and I saw the queen on one hive, but not on the other. Lots of comb drawn out and a bit of burr comb which I removed. I have my traps on order and I made a cd trap with boric acid in it, but Im scared to use it. Im afraid that the beetles will crawl inside in and then back out and track the poison through the hive. On the one hive, where I Saw the queen, there were maybe 10 beetles inside that I could see. I left 10 frames in it. On the one that is problematic, I could not find the queen but there were a LOT of bees. That one had a bunch more beetles between the frames, in the bottom corners, and running about. I removed 5 frames out of that hive.

Thoughts?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

To be sure, any hive in distress will attract beetles. Queenless hives are the worst. I don't know how the beetles know......but they do.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

Aa


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/Pages/Entom/EB160.pdf

read this according to it the are also keyed in on bee phermones.


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## rweakley (Jul 2, 2004)

If you are worried about the larva getting to the soil you have already lost. A hive that allowed larva get to the point where they are ready for soil is probably lost or absconded. The key is to never get to the point where those stinking larva are looking for "good" soil. As mentioned: STRONG Hive, direct sunlight, traps, smash em if you see em, and of course keep the area the bees need to defend to a minimum.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

They aren't in the soil. They flew in and the bees are doing a good job of keeping them out of the combs.


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## John D. (Sep 5, 2007)

I am a couple of counties SW of your location. Unfortunately you're in a 911 situation. Implement as much of the above advice as possible. First attack is mano a mano. Hive tools plus fingers. SHB do not like light. If you are going to remove the feeder temporarily put a pane of glass, plastic sheathing or something to allow light in & they will look for dark. I learned early on the SHB like to enter from the top which is not well guarded. All upper ventilation I use is protected by additional window screen. A SBB is easily modified as stated if you have a tablesaw or access to one. The Dadant branch in Paris, TX ships in about 2 days & they have SBB's with the West trap (the one that goes under the hive) included plus other traps. In emergencies some people go off label & use fipronil which is found in roach & ant bait in traps that can't be accessed by the bees. I don't recommend chemicals but your bees are in a life or death situation.


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## trance (Mar 29, 2013)

In error


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I just looked through my hive with the beetles. I stared at it for 15-20 minutes trying to find my queen. I cannot find the queen. I see no eggs anywhere, but I know she was freed. :/


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I found her. Th paint is mostly gone off of her and her wings don't look good but she is there. I see no eggs though. Ill watch for a few days.


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## Ramona (Apr 26, 2008)

We heard a talk on SHB by Dr. Peter Teal of the ARS Gainesville, Florida. According to his research, SHB are preferentially attracted to very ripe cantaloupe, more so than beebread or any other hive product.

If I had SHB issues and my hives were close enough to my house to visit every 3 days or so, I would put out ripe cantaloupe bait near my hives and destroy/replace the bait every few days. Put in some kind of metal mesh cage so it is not taken by bigger critters.

Dr. Teal's talk is online - fisheye lens was used for visual and audio is challenging but was an extremely interesting talk. Not sure why his research is not more well known.

Ramona


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

DO not do this...... please... it draws even more beetles... into the area, and when the cantalope is no longer to the liking they move to the hive, as well as the larve that hatched in the cantalope.... its like baiting bears......


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## toekneepea (Jul 7, 2010)

brazosdog02 said:


> I found her. Th paint is mostly gone off of her and her wings don't look good but she is there. I see no eggs though. Ill watch for a few days.


If she doesn't start laying, contact the person who sold you the package. Most suppliers will have extra queens on hand and will replace a dud. At leas they do hereabouts.

Good luck,
Tony P.


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## brazosdog02 (Feb 5, 2013)

I did. They said give it a few more days and if no joy, then they'll replace her. For now I'm just happy there is a queen.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

John D. said:


> <snip> A SBB is easily modified as stated if you have a tablesaw or access to one.<snip>


Er, if you're talking about my simple mod of putting shims under the side rails of the bottom board I do mine with an old circular saw with worn bearings. Like I've said, it's simple and no wood shop (table saw in this case) required. Actually, all you need is a hand saw if you can find some 3/4" square stock and a size or two of trim molding. 

Ed

ETA: Actually you don't even need a handsaw...Lowes and HD will give you 2 or 3 cuts per piece of wood. A hammer, some 1-1/4" nails and some glue and you're own your way!


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