# Beetle problem



## r hayden (Sep 27, 2012)

The best magic is a strong hive and lots of bees. The second best (for me at least) is a screened bottom board with oil trap. Search BS for DIY plans or suppliers.
I had same problem last fall, put them on and in a week or so beetles were a minor issue. What ever you do, do it soon. If you see a lot now in a week they can slime a hive.
Let us know how it goes.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Hive beetles are not just a danger to the hive, they are gross. I had a serious problem with them last year. I switched to Freeman Bottom Boards with oil pans and sprinkled diatomaceous earth in the mulch under the hives. So far so good this year.


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## e-spice (Sep 21, 2013)

The Freeman traps are a game changer for beetles.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I make my own oil trap bottom boards. I started with the IPM screen bottom board plans in the _Build It Yourself_ section, but modified the plan to accept an oil tray. I''m currently using plastic cafeteria trays to contain the oil.

Also Beesource member _Rusty Hills Farm_ has a photo essay about building your own oil tray bottom board on his website:
http://rustysbees.com/ipm.html


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Just starting to make my own bottom boards. The cafeteria trays are a great idea. Where can they be pilfered cheaply?


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I have found cafeteria trays in second-hand stores for a buck, but they are not necessarily a regular item. I just buy them whenever I find them.


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

Freeman beetle traps. I no longer use oil, just fill the tray with diatomaceous earth and when it's time to change that, I just dump it out on the ground for some extra ant and earwig deterrent.


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## mdax (Apr 29, 2013)

I live in a heavily treed location, with little sun and year round hive beetles.

I've found that oil trap bottom board, traps in every super and a screened top board/trap can make the difference between a weak hive recovering or getting destroyed. I keep that combo on my strong hives also, no reason to make SHB life easy!
For struggling top bar hives I add an entrance oil trap...usually on 2' hives.

Strong hives will definitely keep them under control, but it's nice to keep the pressure on as I only have 14 hives and can easily keep up on the traps and maintenance.


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## Laura Belle (Sep 3, 2014)

thanks for all the input, trying to find where to get the freeman beetle traps, i got mineral oil and a disposable tray to put under my hive. In the meantime i had cut a few corrugated signs with borax and crisco like the fat bee man did. i also put a long corrugated sign beneath the hive box, sugared the top of hives and later found on the sign below varroa mites, eeek!


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## mdax (Apr 29, 2013)

You can get several types of beetle traps at http://beetlejail.com/


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## spammy_h (Jul 2, 2014)

In the super(s), the Beetle Blaster is a great beetle trap:

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1248

You can use lime instead of oil for the trap, shake them out when full, and refill vs. throwing them away.


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## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

Diatomaceous earth:
Does anyone know how careful I need to be using "DE" in the hive?
I think I read that it is a larvicide not an insecticide.
I have used it on the ground for ant problems with excellent results.
I have it in a trap now for small hive beetles, it is in an area that the bees cannot get to it.
Will "DE" kill adult bees or just the bee eggs and larva?
I am using it on the ground under the hive for ants

We also have a modified "Fat Beeman trap" using a compact disc box, baited with Crisco and Boric acid we are trying. 

Anything else I need to be trying?
I have used "DE" in dairy cow feed to reduce the fly population, it works!


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## Santa Caras (Aug 14, 2013)

I havent tried the DE for SHB. I understood it that it's to kill the hatched SHB larva as it falls to the ground.(it cuts them up as they crawl and they die) (or inside the pan if using in conjunction with a SBB.) I dont think the DE can actually kill a SHB adult beetle. I understand it to be basically ground up calcium from critters from a "land from a long time ago." 
For "KILLING" SHB I use the oil pan and they drown. I use the frame oil traps that they drown in too. I use a "Roach Motel" style trap that I fill with roach pesticide gel that I place on top of my inner cover and they hide from the bees inside and die. (for an experiment i placed them one time UNDER the inner cover on top of the frames and i caught a zillion more than when it was placed on top of the cover. thing is I hate for that pesticide to be inside the actual box but it was a 100x incraese in dead SHB. I also use a hive tool to mush em. Thats about all I got to keep them in check. Since going to the oil pan underneath the SBB, I have noticed a BIG decrease in their numbers.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

Don't use it inside the hive. Put it on the ground under the hives. I use it along with the Freeman bottom boards and it works great. It is no actually and insecticide but it cuts up the chitin when an insect crawls across it. Kind of like if you crawled across glass naked.


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## timrtiger (Feb 6, 2012)

I'm a Central FL beekeeper. This summer I got KILLED with SHB. Not having dealt with them before, it took me a while to even figure out what's going on.
Anyway, once I put the Beetle Blasters in, with oil (only thing I've tried so far), I caught loads of beetles, and a week later, my bees had a renewed vigor because, I believe, that just having beetles in there stresses them out. 
I lost a whole summer of splits, setting my growth plan back significantly. I split 12 to make 24 and am back down to 13 or 14, depending on how one of them does. Sliming is NASTY!


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## jbeshearse (Oct 7, 2009)

Santa Caras said:


> I dont think the DE can actually kill a SHB adult beetle. I understand it to be basically ground up calcium from critters from a "land from a long time ago."


And here, you would be wrong, sorry. See the little white round things in this photo of a Freeman style bottom trap. Those would be dead SHB dessicated by DE. 

The black greasy looking things in the other photo are dead SHB is oil in a freeman style bottom trap. Same apiary, different hive. And yes, last year you might say I had some severe SHB issues. Then I put the Freeman Style traps in and while I still have them, they have not overrun any hive this year. 

I prefer DE. Don't have to worry about spills and does not smell bad once full of dead beetles.


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## timrtiger (Feb 6, 2012)

Wow! What a difference! That'll save a sure mess of spilled oil! I'll look into those bottom traps. What other changes must be made to the hive to accommodate those Freemans? Different bottoms?
And the DE, just get it from the pool store or Garden Center?
In the meantime, can I put the DE into Beetle Blasters?
One more question, please: I understand how sliming a brood comb repels the bees, but if just the wood part of the frame or other interior hive parts has been "in contact with" the slime, but not necessarily soaked in it, and then wiped or rinsed clean by me, will the bees reject it, or will they clean it up and use it?
Thanks for the reply.
Going out now to super up my surviving hives for our fall Brazilian Pepper flow. Just started this weekend. Hope to get a reasonable crop this time.


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## jbeshearse (Oct 7, 2009)

You can cut the wax out of the frames. Then clean them off with bleach water. Same with the hive bodies. If the wax is not too far gone you can re-use it also after rinsing and cleaning with bleach.

The West style trap that I used. Buy the spacers or make them and then there are no hive modifications required.

You can put DE in the beetle blasters and yes, the garden centers are a source for DE. I puchased mine on sale at ACE.

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=101&products_id=724


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## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

Sept 26, 2014
I had a colony with small hive beetle problem, it is a 1 deep box colony with 1 super of wax and 1 super of pre drawn plastic comb.
I caught 4 small hive beetles from this colony at 3 PM that day:

I put 2 SHB in a clean plastic jar with 1/2 teaspoon of Boric Acid (Roach Rid powder).
At this same time I put 2 SHB in a clean plastic jar with 1/2 teaspoon of Diatomaceous earth.

At 8 A M Sept 27 there was no SHB movement in the DE jar, the Boric Acid jar still had some SHB movement.

At noon Sept 27th there was no SHB movement in either jar. 

That same day on this same colony I put a No 8 screened inner cover in the place of the inner cover, I placed 2 identical large mouth clean plastic jar lids on the top of the screen top so the bees could not get to it.
I put about 1/2 tsp of DE in one of the lids + 2 drops of honey for bait.
I put about 1/2 tsp Boric acid in the other lid + 2 drops of honey for bait.
The next day the DE trap had 6 dead SHB, I saw 0 SHB in the Boric Acid trap
It looks to me that the SHB population is less now in this colony.
This colony has a screened bottom on it, I did a powdered sugar shake on it Saturday. I put a serving tray under it with a small amount of cooking oil in it. I saw 1 SHB and 0 mites after 3 days.
My pre drawn plastic comb is where 95% of the SHB are hiding. I intend to take this super off in the very near future. I am sure the SHB population is much lower than when I started.
Myron Denny


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Thanks jbeshearse for the Dadant link I did not know that this company sold add on freeman type traps, I will need to make an order soon, just a week ago for the first time I seen a few small hive beetles in several of my hives, I figured these beetles would catch up to me one day.


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

I have the SBB/tray combos from eheartwood.com. They've done me good so far. I don't have a hive beetle PROBLEM. I have seen a light dusting of beetles in my trays but no bad infestations like in years past without the traps.


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