# Anyone using a beetlejail?



## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

I just ordered one to check it out, beetlejail.com. I bought their 10 frame Lang. adapter to mount it to one of my Country Rubes SBB

I am curious if anyone has been using them and what they think of their effectiveness.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Product link:

http://beetlejail.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=39&product_id=55

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egLroAZ_Qn0


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## Mrobisr (Mar 10, 2012)

I use the beetlejail jr. and they always have beetles in them and I don't see beetles running around, so I will have to guess they work. I even had one run dry and it had trapped a live beetle.


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

I have not had a lot of luck with the Jr., plus messy. I think the most I have ever gotten in one is 8 and I have more that I have squashed going in to the hive. I have not tried DE in them that I have heard of people using, but may try mixing honey with the oil to see how that works. I have tried both veggie oil and mineral oil, with and without vinegar (in the middle chamber). I have three and may put them back in this Sat. to try and get better control. I also put in between first and second frame.
Thanks for the response.


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## Mrobisr (Mar 10, 2012)

Mike,
I don't think I have a really big problem with shb as I have my hives on hard red clay. I have soybean oil in them and it catches a few, but I also keep the ground completely bare in and around the hives. I depend on the hives keeping the shb's at bay and the traps doing the rest. I have my traps on the outside frames and on the back side for what it's worth. 

Mark
8a


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

OK, I put my Jr. traps back in on Sunday using mineral oil with some honey, about 1Tbsp. to 4 oz. I put in a restaurant squeeze bottle to fill at the hive, after shaking which worked pretty well. I put them in between 1 & 2 frames at the rear of the frame. I will check again this coming Sunday. My beetle trap will arrive on Thursday and I am going over their installation instructions they sent. I may have to fabricate some parts as the Country Rubes SBB I am going to install it on does not quite match their standard base. Pretty simple just extend the 3/4" rails the deep sits on to the front edge of the CR landing board. I also got their internal SHB trap that holds drone foundation, but that will not arrive until Monday and will go into another hive. I am going to hold off on the Gold Star for a while longer hoping that the nematodes and traps keep it under control. I hope that the instructions do not want me to put the plastic varroa count board in as that will end my ventilation and varroa fall through. At this point I do not know if the SHB are using the screen bottom as an entrance or just flying in the regular entrance, newbee problem.


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## thenance007 (May 25, 2011)

Big difference between Beetle Jail and Beetle Jail Jr. I've been using Beetle Jails for 2 years on my 2 hives and have seen maybe a total of 6-8 SHBs. This year, only 2. I had one nuc last year without a Beetle Jail and consistently found SHBs in it. So I'm a big believer. Initial cost is a bit high, but much cheaper than losing to SHBs. And I use screened bottom boards, which apparently don't reduce their effectiveness although it would seem likely that they might. I have a young orchard in my back yard that I understand is a big attraction for SHBs, which is why I originally went to the extra expense.


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## Sadler91 (Nov 6, 2011)

Better Beetle Blaster > All 

I don't normally struggle with beetles but, I have used the Bettle Blaster in the past in the wet, humid months of Florida and they are outstanding. Put some canola oil and a little bit of crushed pears in juice. Youll tear them up


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Just as an update I am going to remove the entrance BeetleJail I installed as my bees don't like it. I have a ball of about 5-8 lbs. of bees hanging on the bottom of my SBB which tells me they have not adapted to the modified entrance. I have ordered some of the full length mouse guards that are stainless steel instead (10 frame). I tried to coax them into the entrance, a few went in, but mostly just buzzed about and went back to the bottom side of the hive. The construction of the entrance is good, I like the idea, but the bees did not.


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## DaveMorris (Apr 26, 2013)

mmmooretx said:


> Just as an update I am going to remove the entrance BeetleJail I installed as my bees don't like it. I have a ball of about 5-8 lbs. of bees hanging on the bottom of my SBB which tells me they have not adapted to the modified entrance. I have ordered some of the full length mouse guards that are stainless steel instead (10 frame). I tried to coax them into the entrance, a few went in, but mostly just buzzed about and went back to the bottom side of the hive. The construction of the entrance is good, I like the idea, but the bees did not.


Thanks for that update! I was wondering how you could mate up the BeetleJail front entrance device to a Country Rubes bottom board, since they already have a large landing board on the front of that bottom board. You would have to not only extend the side rails, but then also build a little roof or else the beetles would just bypass the jail entrance and come in on the preexisting Country Rubes landing board, no?


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## Genemiller (Jul 21, 2013)

Sorry to bring up such an old post but since finding beetles in my hive I have been reading everything. I like the idea of the beetle jail . It makes since. I was wondering Mike if you tried it again or did just give up. Anybody else tried it.

Gene


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Genemiller said:


> Sorry to bring up such an old post but since finding beetles in my hive I have been reading everything. I like the idea of the beetle jail . It makes since. I was wondering Mike if you tried it again or did just give up. Anybody else tried it.
> 
> Gene


No I sold it some time ago. However I do have their internal trap that takes 1 frame space and has a set up for putting in drone foundation in each of my 6 hives. The traps do capture beetles, not all, and my bees have not built comb on any of them. I will continue using them with mineral oil. However I was asked to try a prototype product by Country Rubes, thank you Janice, which I installed last Sunday, so no results yet. 3 parts get installed on your bottom board and one piece on the bottom of the box (front). Check it out on the www.countryrubes.com web site. It is clever enough to work, but again I have had no time with it to check for effectivity. I think it is called the beetle barrier, but it is one of their featured products, and it is also discussed on the Country Rubes section in the commercial supporters in this web site.


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## thenance007 (May 25, 2011)

This is my 3rd year using them--now 4 hives and 1 nuc. I never see more than 2 -3 beetles in any of my hives and usually none. Except last month when I put a new queen above a queen excluder with a top entrance on top of one of my hives. There were 2 boxes above the excluder. Within 2 weeks, the top 2 boxes were being taken over by hive beetles--there were only a few bees in those boxes as if they didn't want to go up through the excluder. No beetles below the excluder where there were lots of bees. My conclusion is that they work great!


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