# How I kill hive beetles



## JustinH (Nov 11, 2013)




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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Glad you have the time to do that.

There are not enough eligible H2A workers in the world to keep half the commercial hives in the US beetle free with that technique. 

The anual bill to do so would be larger than the national debt even if the folks were available.


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## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

Instead of stopping to squish each one, have a wide-mouthed jar of rubbing alcohol next to you and drop them in as you pluck them out of the comb (like I've seen at veterinarians when they pick ticks off cats and dogs...).


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Holey smokes, you had more on that first frame than I have seen in both of my hives combined for the yr.


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

Killing every last one is the prerogative of a hobby beekeeper. I try to do that as I see them. A friend has gone from tweezers to a small pointed needle nosed pliers. I have a pair that is curved, which makes it easy to get in there with force. Go for it!

My first hive beetles arrived in NUCs three years ago. I've killed every one I could as they appeared. See beetles in ones and twos now. 

I'm imagining what that looks like from across the street


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

My beetle traps take care of them for me. But if you like the satisfaction of killing them yourself, smoke the comb over a bucket of soapy water with 1/4" hardware cloth over it. The beetles will jump off the comb into the water. The screen will keep the bees from going in, too. It's faster than squishing them one at a time.


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## JustinH (Nov 11, 2013)

All good advice everyone. I'll try some of your suggestions. Thanks!


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## mhorowit (Sep 25, 2011)

May I suggest some 'ears' on that support so there is no chance of the bar coming off towards you? Second, you are on some kind of platform (back porch?) so does that mean the larva somehow landed on you deck, then somehow made it to the ground to continue growing? - Mike


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## JustinH (Nov 11, 2013)

mhorowit said:


> May I suggest some 'ears' on that support so there is no chance of the bar coming off towards you? Second, you are on some kind of platform (back porch?) so does that mean the larva somehow landed on you deck, then somehow made it to the ground to continue growing? - Mike


Mike, I'm 100% confident that the top bar won't fall of that holder. The wood is all flat and it feels really secure. And yes, this hive is on my front porch. Folks rarely come to my front door so I thought, why not? I wanted the entrance in front of a window so I could watch them from inside the house. I love it and it's not been a problem. The Jehovah's Witnesses now skip my house.  Here's a picture.









Also, I covered the 2x4's with Vaseline hoping that any SHB larva couldn't not cross that barrier. I never saw one cross it or stuck in it or anything. So I can't say whether SHB larva made the journey from the hive to soil. 

My Langstroth hives also have lots of SHB's. They are in full sun (from noon to sundown) and sitting on 4" of crushed limestone which is on weed fabric. All done so SHB would have a hard time finding soil to pupate it. If the larva make it out of the hive without one of my very hygienic bees not carting it off (I'm just guessing here), they then have to run the gauntlet of very hot rocks, filled with predator ants, and crawl about 8' to find soil. I can't imagine them surviving that journey. Whenever the bees kick out the drones and bee larva, ants are on them within seconds.

So I think my beetles are becoming adults somewhere else and then finding my hives. Here's a picture of my backyard apiary with the crushed rock.


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## crabbcatjohn (May 5, 2013)

Mine are all on a large deck with soil underneath and i don't have a lot of them. I usually only see 4 or 5 per hive when they are bad. I would try some kind of traps. If i had that large of populations of SHB i would certainly look in to it..


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## mhorowit (Sep 25, 2011)

I understand the beetles can fly multiple miles to find your hive; maybe 10 (?) - Mike


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## EarlyBird (Aug 16, 2014)

I thought the bees would chase the things into a corner or something? So, is -that- what I have to look forward to? I'm really thinking hard about NOT getting bees after all...

I do like Jon Wolff's bottom screened jar solution, but that is only going to work if the beetles are being chased by the bees, vs. having their way on the comb like it looks in that video. There is no way I'd be willing to go through that much work.


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## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

EarlyBird said:


> I thought the bees would chase the things into a corner or something? So, is -that- what I have to look forward to? I'm really thinking hard about NOT getting bees after all...There is no way I'd be willing to go through that much work.


It's a lot of work, frustration, and disappointment - if you're not highly motivated then you probably shouldn't make the investment. Presumably you don't have a beekeeping friend or you'd know all this and more. If there is a local beekeeping club (most counties have one) contact them and ask if you can shadow a beek on an inspection day. Also, presumably, you haven't been to bee school yet so sign up for one, usually in the spring. Somewhere around the 6th week in mine they told us about all the diseases and parasites that will besiege you and the bees from all sides. People said, "Oh, you wait until NOW to tell us about all this???"

Plus...you *will* get stung. Everywhere. And the bee suit and gloves on a 90 degree day will make it feel like a 110 degree day. Keeping bees requires blood, sweat and tears so don't make the investment if you're not willing to spend a little time picking small hive beetles out of your hive. That's just a tiny little part of the maintenance involved. 

And BTW, yes, the bees will try to keep the beetles cornered but as soon as you do an inspection, all hell breaks loose and the beetles make their getaway in all the confusion. It's now believed that's why catastrophic SHB infestations seem to take place a week after an inspection in a hive that appeared to be perfectly fine a week earlier.


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

Earlybird, go for it. For all the hassles there's nothing like keeping bees. I actually don't know that the bees chase the beetles into my traps. I suspect that the bait comb draws some in, they lay eggs, and when the larvae begin to feed they give off some kind of scent that attracts other beetles in the hive down to the bottles. The reason I think this is because I'll find one jar with lots of beetles and larvae and another one will have very few, and then another will only have wax moth larvae, or ants.


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## EarlyBird (Aug 16, 2014)

Jon Wolff said:


> Earlybird, go for it. For all the hassles there's nothing like keeping bees. I actually don't know that the bees chase the beetles into my traps. I suspect that the bait comb draws some in, they lay eggs, and when the larvae begin to feed they give off some kind of scent that attracts other beetles in the hive down to the bottles. The reason I think this is because I'll find one jar with lots of beetles and larvae and another one will have very few, and then another will only have wax moth larvae, or ants.


Ah, yes, I forgot you baited them. Your theory sounds reasonable. And your trap is an awesome idea. I thought a lot about how to build a "screened bottom board" that would not end up being a hiding place for SHB. And, I've been working on this little TBH I picked up, making small modifications to ensure there will be NO hiding places for beetles, aside from under the cover. Every possible hiding place is at least a bee space wide. I could not figure a way to implement IPM until I saw your trap pictures. Your beetle trap appears to solve the problem of implementing IPM which is not a beetle refuge, but seems like one to the beetles, and provides a feeder, all in one. Only concern is if the larvae end up attracting beetles from surrounding areas, and not just from the hive.

Marysia2, "everywhere?" Really? That would hurt... 

Seriously, I've read somewhere that inspections can release SHB which were, for example, propolised in place, or otherwise trapped. So that may be what happened in the video. But I have also read of bees which just "gave up" chasing the beetles. That seems like a problem, and the bees in that video looked pretty passive about the beetles. Maybe they were smoked, too.

OTOH, if I get bees that don't respond to smoke, and dive bomb me whenever I do anything with the hive, even if I do it on a nice, warm, sunny day, and try to sting me "everywhere," then those bees would get re-queened. No, I don't have bees yet, but I've read a lot, and I generally research things carefully.


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## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

EarlyBird said:


> Marysia2, "everywhere?" Really? That would hurt...


Yes, everywhere imaginable. And some places you wouldn't think likely.


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