# small hive beetle in michigan?



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Those in the ground won't survive the winter. Some of those in your hives will survive in or on the cluster of bees.

I would venture to say that just because you are finding them in your hives doesn't mean you should try to control them. Certainly if you are finding them harmful, aka doing damage, then traps are in order.

I tote my colonies South and then North every year, from here to SC and back. I see some SHB in colonies when the hives are in SC, but rarely see them in my hives when they are in NY. I have only experienced damage from SHB once. And that was a colony that stayed in SC thru the summer. Never, in my colonies, in NY.

Other than seeing the SHBs in your hives are you seeing any damage from them?


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## joshk (Mar 31, 2010)

No damage yet. I found some larva on the topbars, but none in the comb. I started a nuc from dadants that came from california, I was having issues keeping a queen in it throughout the year, but now there is a good queen, and the bees were attacking the beetles on site. Unfortunately they spread to another hive that I made from a split that was not as strong yet. Thank you for your reply.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Larvae, but not the beetles? RU sure they are SHB larvae? Smaller/thinner than wax moth larvae?


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## jkola404 (Jan 8, 2008)

I have about 6 hives I see SHB in every time I open the lid( I know I need to get them out of the shade). I have never treated or had any damage from them yet and some will overwinter with the bees. I wouldn't spend the money on any treatments. [HR][/HR]


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## joshk (Mar 31, 2010)

I am pretty sure they were shb larvae, they were considerably small and a different color. I had a propolis trap on and the bees built up propolis on the top bars and attached it to the trap. The larvae were fairly protected there. They were only 3/4 in long and very thin. Not like a plump wax worm.


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## joshk (Mar 31, 2010)

There is also adult beetles also.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> I would venture to say that just because you are finding them in your hives doesn't mean you should try to control them. Certainly if you are finding them harmful, aka doing damage, then traps are in order.


(Remember I'm a rank newbee)
You definitely have more experience than I do, Mark, but I'll respectfully venture to say that that is the first time I've seen that advice. Would not you want to prevent damage rather than respond to damage? The cause of possible/probable damage is there. It seems that most advice that I've heard is along the lines of "if you see'em you'd better set traps" and "there's more than just the ones you see". 

I understand that living up north ya'll have the benefit of the hard, frozen tundra (ok, so it's not really tundra but to a guy in south Alabama...) but it still seems that you would want to do as much damage as you can to the shb population...especially going into the winter where they will cluster with the bees. 

As for ground treatment... Certainly the winter temperatures up north are more than adequate to kill off any shb pupating in the soil, but during the summer there can be many reproduction cycles. I would think that if you're going to do a ground treatment that it would be better to do so in the springtime, rather than when cold weather is approaching.

Ed


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

If I were guessing I'd say that your beetles arrived with your new bees or came off of some migratory hives nearby. I don't think you are likely to have an ongoing problem in Michigan with shb.
In my hives most of the adult beetles die during our winter. They don't usually recover enough to become a serious problem until late July. Your winters are longer and colder. The few that might survive have a much shorter season to build up. If you keep your hives healthy, I can't imagine that you need to do anything else.
I would be a bit concerned about the larvae on the topbars. I believe that I would remove the propolis trap.
PS I don't use traps or any other management for shb with the exception of keeping my hives in full sun and keeping them healthy.
Don't worry too much.
Good luck


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Ok...the second time I've heard basically the same advice. 

Ed


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Intheswamp said:


> (Remember I'm a rank newbee)
> You definitely have more experience than I do, Mark, but I'll respectfully venture to say that that is the first time I've seen that advice. Would not you want to prevent damage rather than respond to damage?
> 
> Ed


Ed,
you are quite right and not rank at all.  Had you posted this Thread, my comments would have been quite different. There is a proven track record that SHB will do damage where you live.

I am not Treatment Free by any means, but I believe in doing what is necassary when it appears likely that one will need to. I don't use TM or Tylosin propholactycally, though I know those who do.

So, I believe that one should understand ones' pest and address it according to how it will act in ones' own locale. Which will be different in Alabama, compared to Michigan. As I believe you pointed out.

It's one reason I am mildly entertained by Canadas' concern over SHB, which helps to keep the Boarder closed to cross border migratory beekeeping. Especially since they already have them.

Were the border open again, Canadians could go back to their FL winjtering grounds. I guess the price of almond pollination might go down a little bit. But, maybe we would have access to the blueberry pollination we are kept from.

Sorry, I guess I got off topic there for a while.


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## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

If you got a hundred beetles in one hive they're breeding somewhere. I've read that they have a 6km flight range so start looking. Last year I started having a problem w/ the little vermin and it turned out that my neighbor had a failing hive and they were breeding in it.


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## SlickMick (Feb 28, 2009)

This winter I lost 6 hives out of 7 to SHB. Admittedly we dont frost where I live in Australia but a few SHB can lead to devestation and I can assure you that you dont want to have to deal with that. All the hives were strong with bottom board oil traps.. always catching a few but I would alway see quite a few when I opened the hives. Once I started to see larva in the traps it was all over.. didnt matter what I did. The hive that survived seemed to have bees that were very aggressive towards the SHB and I have since split it to maintain the genes and let them grow their own queen. Seems to be workiing so far

Slicko


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Here is a link to SHB in Canada.

http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/hive-beetle-won’t-be-easy-contain-beekeeper-warns-3981


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