# Searching for SHB remedies



## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

Personally, I don't like chemical treatments when there is a much simpler solution. I use IPM bottom boards with an oil pan. I add oil once each spring, clean it a few times, and (when I remember to) take it out for winter. So far this year I have seen exactly ONE live beetle. The rest are floating in the mineral oil in my bottom board along with about a gazillion dead ants. 

HTH

Rusty


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## mgstei1 (Jan 11, 2014)

Oil tray and screened bottoms is only way to kill as many as you can.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

mgstei1 said:


> Oil tray and screened bottoms is only way to kill as many as you can.


The oil tray in a Freeman style bottom board works great for me. I never see a beetle in the hive. Placing the hives in a sunny spot helps in piedmont NC but I am not sure how well that will work in Fl where it is hotter. I also put a little DE (Diatomaceous Earth) in the mulch under the hives. I only renew it once a year when the weather starts getting pretty warm.


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## e-spice (Sep 21, 2013)

Like everyone is saying, there is nothing better than the Freeman-style bottom boards with either oil or soapy water. I put the trays on mine last weekend and was shocked to see how many had been caught after only a few hours. In my opinion, these are going to work much better than anything else.


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## mgstei1 (Jan 11, 2014)

dsegrest said:


> The oil tray in a Freeman style bottom board works great for me. I never see a beetle in the hive. Placing the hives in a sunny spot helps in piedmont NC but I am not sure how well that will work in Fl where it is hotter. I also put a little DE (Diatomaceous Earth) in the mulch under the hives. I only renew it once a year when the weather starts getting pretty warm.


All my colonies are in full sun but I miss the shade, the bees could care less, and I use sulphur and kill the grass down under my home hives.
Its in mid 90's here now and only gonna get hotter with high humidity also. The main flows are over and the hives are still loaded with bees so lots of bearding and water gathering going on.
I use copper screen door wire on all my entrances for ventilation and keeping the SHB out as much as I can. A 12P nail on each side of my migratory covers adds ventilation also and I'm building a 3" screened hole inner cover to place under the cover to keep beetles out and give a little more venting for the bees.

I long for the days before the mites and those little beetle buggers. Wax moths are nothing compared to these two.


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

There is something I want to try that may sound crazy. I have alot of fire ants near my hives, and I want to encourage fire ants to live directly under the hive so that when the shb larvae drop to the ground they will be eaten by the fire ants. I never have a fire ant problem inside the hive. So, I'm going to have a couple test hives, see if I can get fire ants living there. I'm going to pull the grass and then scatter a good size handfull of cat food which I know they love, right in front of the hive. If I notice any difference in beetle population at those hives, I will report back.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

With fire ants you dont have to have them under your hives.They forage a long ways from the nest.Throw a piece of meat on the ground and you will see what I mean.It wont take long and it will be covered with them.


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## Deeohgee (Jun 28, 2015)

I guess I failed to state, I do not use bottom boards. I use pallets. 2 hives per pallet.
I was not really asking for recommendations , I was really soliciting opinions on the ant bait. As SHB's like both protein and sugar.
I have considered using the screened entrance.
I do like reading what others have tried, and there are many threads on the tried but true methods.
If I were using bottom boards, I would not hesitate to use the screen and oil method. But leveling pallets of bees are more difficult than one hive.

http://bugspray.com/catalog/products/page2208.html


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I've experienced plenty of SHB meltdowns - almost always on queenless, weak, or sick hives. Keep your hives strong and queenright, and effectively control mites and you will seldom lose a hive. At least in my area.

Do commercial beekeepers in your area use oil traps or checkmite or anything else specifically to control SHB?


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## Deeohgee (Jun 28, 2015)

David LaFerney said:


> Do commercial beekeepers in your area use oil traps or checkmite or anything else specifically to control SHB?


They move them a lot and use Chux. This is a commercial bee keeper's response, that I know personally, on the topic. "Stuff called Advion for roaches can be put in beetle barns or beetle blasters. They need to be placed under flat lids so the beetles try to hide above the frames and are chased into the trap or seeking refuge. While in there they eat the poison. It's also toxic to bees so make sure the trap is not enter able to them. All hives have beetles and as long as there aren't hundreds its ok. Don't put hives in shady places. Seems to be a comfortable place for beetles. Traps with poisons in them work ok. Moving hives seems to reduce numbers. "
BTW, he has over a thousand hives, he just returned from moving a large amount up to Ohio.


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## Deeohgee (Jun 28, 2015)

I have inspect half of my hives. And I discovered each one had SHB in them. I scratched around in the dirt and the corners and discovered larvae in one. I suggest you look at your bottom boards in the corners and look in the dirt / rubbish. I found 3 larvae and killed them. The rest of the brood and combs looked great. I had noticed this hive was not doing as well as others. This may have been the cause, too busy fighting the SHB. I bought some off brand swifter pads today to lay them in the hives. I wonder now if they should be in the upper and down on the floor?


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## Deeohgee (Jun 28, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TmlLbk42nY
I like this method


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## my2cents (Jul 9, 2015)

After careful consideration to many possibilities, I have chosen to do this to my pallets. Here is how I did it. I will post pictures after I have it down to a science, my first attempt was not too pretty, lol.
I ordered some 58 mm lids from Dadant for 14 cents each. And I ordered some #8 hardware cloth off flea bay.
I then cut a hole the diameter of the lid. Note, allow the lid to be flush with the outside of your bottom board. Now, at this point, you have to cut 2 straight lines to allow you to slide the cap into. so it will resemble a "U". I then placed a piece of flashing under that to have something for the lid to rest on. And then I placed the hardware cloth over the hole.
Since I use pallets, I removed the back piece that the hive rests on, made my cuts and placed the hardware cloth over it and then replaced the hive resting board, that is the spacer to keep the hive body from resting directly on the bottom board.
The cost is less than $1 per SHB trap.
Now, I am choosing to use advion,* IT IS NOT APPROVED FOR BEES!
It will kill your bees if they eat it!*. I place it in the bottom of the lid and slide it in, I have made a slight change and created a flashing on the lid, so when I slide it in, it closes the hole so bees can not get to it. On another note here, when I spoke to the bee inspector his first response was, it is not approved for bees and if I find it in the hive, I will destroy the hive, my response was, it is not inside the hive, it is external. He paused for a moment and then said "interesting, you are correct."
You can put water or oil in the caps if you wish. 
I find that the majority of my SHBs are in the back of the bottom board. I will post pictures, or maybe a video when I have this worked out to a science.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

How about some pics now so we can see what you are talking about.Someone might have a suggestion that may help you greatly.


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## my2cents (Jul 9, 2015)

I know what I did wrong from the first one. I am making those corrections now. TY for the advice. I will post pics soon.


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## Jamie D (May 25, 2012)

I have been using nematodes in the soil along with the oil trays. I have a few beetle blaster traps in a hive that I saw an abnormal number of beetles in as well. The nematodes were working extremely well for the first part of the season. I missed a dose, then when I did put them into the soil the last time, we had a tremendous rainy spell. Since the missed dose, the numbers have picked up, but I am confident they will be in check after Tuesday's follow up. I can say they really help. Plus, they are chemical free and non harmful to bees. If you are good with science projects, you could buy once and keep culturing them yourself. This is where I get them from: http://www.naturescontrol.com/thrip.html#pn


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

mgstei1 said:


> All my colonies are in full sun but I miss the shade, the bees could care less, and I use sulphur and kill the grass down under my home hives.
> Its in mid 90's here now and only gonna get hotter with high humidity also. The main flows are over and the hives are still loaded with bees so lots of bearding and water gathering going on.
> I use copper screen door wire on all my entrances for ventilation and keeping the SHB out as much as I can. A 12P nail on each side of my migratory covers adds ventilation also and I'm building a 3" screened hole inner cover to place under the cover to keep beetles out and give a little more venting for the bees.
> 
> I long for the days before the mites and those little beetle buggers. Wax moths are nothing compared to these two.


Am newly returned to beekeeping from a very long stop and can say that my greatest fear WAS wax moths, AFB and some other way less common things. 
The good old days...sigh. 
Just found a frame with crawlies on it. SHB newb and yuck yuck yuck. Froze that frame and hoping it's the only one...doubt it. 50/50


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## my2cents (Jul 9, 2015)

I can not post pictures of my SHB traps. Guess I do not know how.


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## my2cents (Jul 9, 2015)

I tore my 8 hives down to the bottom boards today. Saw no SHBs. This is after I converted by BBs ( pallets) to this style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TmlLbk42nY
I have seen less and less of them in the tray. I bought some 97 cent green paint trays and placed them under the entrance to monitor what the bees are cleaning out. And it seems the solid BBs are cleaner now also.


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