# Small Hive Beatle larvae travel capabilities



## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

I found yesterday I have SHB in my top bar hive. I think they were already with the bees in the package when I installed them back March 23 of this year.
I knew the larvae must go into the ground and pupate for the life cycle of the beatle to continue. I thought and was hopeing that with this piticular hive, the life cycle might not be able to continue 1. Because this hive has a solid bottam thus not a screened bottom for the larvae to just drop out onto the ground. 2. The hive is set up in the corner of my concrete driveway thus over concrete so when the larvae do drop out of the hive from the entrance or gap between the boards or whatever, they drop down on concrete.
So does anyone know how far are they able to crawl to reach soil?
I read GuardStar kills the larvae. I think I might get some and put it under all my hives spread out about a 4' radius all the way around. 
All the rest of my hives are on a solid piece of lanolium not much bigger then the hive itself in hopes of the lanolium stopping the larvae from entering the soil. If a concrete driveway is not going to stop them, than a small sheet of lanolium certainly isn't going to do it. So I think I'll try GuardStar. Has anyone used it and does it work?? And any suggestions? I am determined to erradicate those things if at all possible but I'm sure nearly every one else is too. I have already been using beatle traps with oil all along. Lampburner


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## justinh83 (Aug 2, 2010)

My suggestion would be to find an effective way to kill the adult SHB. By the time the larvae are ready to pupate the damage to your hive will already be done. As far as the solid bottom board goes, they can still leave the front entrance, they don't have to just fall out.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

I would truly love to be able to effectively kill the adult SHBs in my hives. I am able to, but only 1 at a time by means of mashing it between my hive tool and the wood where I happen to see one. That is only when oppertunity comes along. There is also when the happen to fall into my AJ traps. I haven't actually used any kind of trap in my TBH. The AJ's are made for Langs but I suppose I could prop one or two up in the opright position down on the floor of the TBH in a couple places by putting them hanging between 2 small square pieces of wood or something. I don't know where else in a TBH to put one. Then it would have to bee in the back of the hive where there is no comb built yet. I don't know how effective that would be. Where there is comb, it hangs down nearly to the hive floor leaving no clearance for a beatle trap.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

SHB larva have been observed crawling up to 40' to find suitable soil. You have to control the adult SHB in the hive or you're wasting your time. As Justin stated above, by the time the Gardstar kills the larva the damage to your hive has been done and you probably have no bees left as the hive will abscond when the smell and the slime get bad enough, which is real soon. For your TBH you could try the Beetle Barn traps available from Rossmans and use the boric acid crystals as seen on Fatbeemans website.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

Fish Sticks above and Justin, How does that beatle barn work? I went to Rossmans website and checked it out. I see it requires a check mite strip. Does the check mite strip attract the beatles to go inside and then not get out? Is that it?
The problem I have with using chemicals is that us naturalist beekeepers are under the impression that the use of chemicals is makeing a more stronger resistand pest. My thinking however is that if that were so, the bees would be becomming more resistant to it too even though it is not aimed at the bees. The bees and pest both are insects. That could however only apply to mites and not SHB.
Anyway, if the natural vegtable oil filled traps and the home made kind with boric acid and Crisco arent doing the job, then I think I might go with the check mite strip in the beatle barn anyway.; and had better act quickly.
Someone here has been makeing beatle traps out of CD cases.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

There are many different traps on the market and most of them don't work well in heavy SHB areas. The Beetle Barns work well if you use a bait inside. Never used Checkmite so I can't comment. The Fatbeeman traps with boric acid crystals work also. I would modify the bait; he uses Crisco but fermented honey mixed with some pollen substitute would draw a lot more of them. CD cases work exactly like the Beetle Barns, you just have to break out the little plastic tabs on the sides so the beetles can get in but the bees can't get in and can't get to the bait. For your TBHs I would use a trap that lays on the bottom board and on top of the bars and always use a couple of them. If you have some Langstroth hives try the Cutts Beetle Blasters and use veggie oil in them with a teaspoon of red wine vinegar; place two traps per box between the top bars, one on each side of the box. If you'll go to Russell Apiaries website, he has bait for the CD cases and I believe he'll send you a couple of the cases so you can see how to make your own. I think you're going to find that natural beekeeping and SHB are not going to have a good ending for you; you have to have some controls on them. Would love to be able to keep bees without the various traps and baits but down here a hive is a goner in about 2 weeks without SHB controls. I've seen many posts from TN beeks and they have a bad SHB problem up there too, not as bad as FL and S. GA, but still very bad.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

Fish Sticks what I had been using is the AJ traps in my Langs. They are and work just like the Cutts, only they are re-usable but they cost 5 times as much too for that reason. They are little more then $5.00 each. I figure for every one I purchase, I don't need buy another to replace it.
I was told if you are crafty enough you can re-use the cutts by cutting them along the seam and emptying it and re-tapeing it back together.
I visited Russell Aperies website. I can't find on there anywhere where they sell anything bait, trap or equipment.: just mostly queens (of which I am rather interisted) and queen equipment.
I watched that one video there about the SHB desimation of that one once health hive. Just based on how the fellows accent narriating the 10 min video, it seems it must be in Australia is it do you know?If so it's disappointing to know there is that bad of a problem with SHB there too. Another thing about the video is that I didn't know the SHB larvae was so large. In the video it appears the larvae are about 5 or 6 times the size of the adult SHB. I had figured the larvae was smaller than the adult beatles not bigger and espeasually not that much bigger. 
If the population of SHB inside a hive can go from seeing 2 or 3 during a hive inspection as I have,to as heavily infested as that hive was in that video, without some kind of mirecal fix, I hardly see much hope for us here in the Southern U.S..
I'll do what I can and know and have learned. If I still loose everything or nearly everything to those things. I can't see continuing fighting a battle I just can't win. At the same time I would think all of us here are in the same boat to the same degree in this part of the country. Mark


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

I guarantee you we have a lot more of them in FL than you do in TN. We do successfully deal with them or we'd be out of business real quick. In fact, my son and I were in the business back when the SHB first arrived and we were very quickly out of the beekeeping business due to the rapid infestation with no known means to control them. We went from 250 hives down to 75 in a matter of 2 months. In just one yard of 36 hives we lost all 36 over a period of 2 weeks. Couldn't afford that kind of loss. If you want to keep bees you have to do whatever is necessary to keep them alive, and it may entail using stuff in your hive that might not exactly fit the description of natural beekeeping. Go back to the Russell Apiaries website and click on the "Queens and Supplies" tab on top. Scroll down and look for "Beetle Juice." Up to you whether to use stuff to control them or not.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

Yep 10-4 on that fish sticks. I agree with you there. I sort of have myself geard for the worst in nearly everthing. That way if the worst happens, I wouldn't be disspaointed. However it looks like in this case, the only way the worst would happen is if I let it. 
When it comes to survival, one can't always be "natural", got to do whatever is necessary. If you guys can survive with them down in Florida where they are much worse than here, it can more easily be done here.
In the beatle blaster traps can any kind of plant oil be used and not just veggie oil? I know veggie oil is the cheapest but I happen to have a lot of left over peanut oil from something else on hand that probibably wouldn't otherwise be used for years for anything else.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Just try it! Nothing to lose. Any type of oil should work, especially if you add some red wine vinegar to attract them. Mann Lake also has a lure substance you can add to the oil. Be careful when removing the traps with oil; the oil kills bees immediately, probably by closing off their breathing tubes.


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