# SHB + cutouts (discarding comb?)



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Are you sure that the larvae you see are small hive beetle and not wax moth larva? They can look quite similar ...









Photo: Wax Moth Larva (top) and SHB Larva (Photo by Bart Smith)
photo source/more info


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

oldspice said:


> I'm wondering what the deal is with keeping comb / shb (wether or not I should and how they are able to destroy transplanted hives ) thx


Cutting out the comb and vacuuming bees is stressful to them. They need to not have the added stress of having to repair comb, regulate temperature and feed brood. Give the cutout bees some frames of clean, empty drawn comb and a couple of frames of honey from another hive and a little piece of comb with eggs (or one to three day old larvae) from the cutout in case the queen was hurt or lost. Give healthy capped brood from the cutout to another hive if you want to save it.


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## oldspice (Aug 20, 2016)

Yes they are beetle larva because I've watched the differences in how they move.( and they were in piles on bottom board) give them capped honey from another hive ? Seems cleaner but does it matter?


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## Joe Mac (Jun 1, 2016)

Having lost a cut out colony this spring to SHB due to absconding, I would agree with keeping only a small amount of brood comb and none of the honeycomb to fit into empty frames. If a colony has very few SHB visible I might try to keep a little more of the brood. The terrorist beetles can wreck a hive in short order after a cutout and the bees will leave within a couple of days. The bees keep lots of beetles "in jail", cornered somewhere in the colony, and they're just waiting to get free. When you cut the combs out, you give the beetles the opportunity to go everywhere. The bees are stressed out because of all the turmoil of wrecking their house and the beetles start laying eggs and the combs can become slimed very quickly. The honey/nectar in the combs will ferment rapidly due to the yeast in the beetle's feces. The bees can't handle a mess like this and will abscond. If you do cut outs, I recommend keeping a very close eye on them after hiving to be sure the combs are not being slimed. If they are I recommend shaking off the bees in front of the hive with foundation or empty frames in it (if you're doing foundationless) and either freeze the infested combs and slowly give back to them later or just melt them for the wax. Here's a link to a video by Dr. Jamie Ellis filmed at the National Honey Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUkFcgf4f6Q


I've not had good luck with cutouts this year and have promised myself that I won't be doing any next year. I'm going to concentrate more on swarm traps. You get cleaner bees and with a fraction of the work and the queen will be there, without having to worry about killing or catching her during a cutout.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

oldspice said:


> Yes they are beetle larva because I've watched the differences in how they move.( and they were in piles on bottom board) give them capped honey from another hive ? Seems cleaner but does it matter?


Cleaner means less likely to promote robbing. Feed the cutout honey to your bees 2 waggle dance waggles (120 yards) away from your hive.


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## oldspice (Aug 20, 2016)

Anyone else have input? Perhaps my new method could be : make the cutouts, but swap them with strong hive frames so the strong hive can re attach the comb and the new hive can have strong hive frames ? Seems like a lot of work if I'm doing this often tho


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

>Anyone else have input?

Cutouts are not worth it. Charge for your labor and make it count that may be all you get;

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?329054-Issues-with-cut-outs&p=1455738#post1455738


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## Beebeard (Apr 27, 2016)

Each one is different. I do advocate saving a minimum of brood comb and as little honey as possible. Think of it as hiving a swarm. Give them a good clean home to move into with good resources (clean drawn comb, foundation, etc) and a frame of eggs and open brood to give them something to do and a reason to stay. crush and strain the honey and feed back to them in an internal feeder. If beetles are not present (a rarity) I do save more active comb. Just be sure you don't give the now stressed hive too much work and they should recover. For me cutouts are worth it because I charge for my labor and consider it income. The hives that make it are a perk.


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## frustrateddrone (Jan 31, 2015)

I won't do cut outs and bring them to my bee yard. I will however do a cut out and leave the bee hive at the location until I deem it safe to bring home. I did that and introduced SHB to my bee yard. Luckily for me this year I have only seen a few and that's it. I put the bees on a beetle trap bottom board and that seemed to be the end of it. Someone will comment they can lay 300 eggs and whatever else. If I had SHB I would be able to go through daily and get rid of them. Yes, daily


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I perform probably 20-30 removals each season. I only use the brood comb when banding. The key is to make sure the bees do not have too much space in their new diggs. Too much space = difficult defense. Bees prefer to be crowded to a point.


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