# SHB mesh size



## Terry C (Sep 6, 2013)

While moving a nuc into a 10 frame box today I saw a small hive beetle . I'm using screened bottom boards , #8 mesh . I have built my bottom board so I can slip a tray under them , but am wondering if the holes in #8 hardware cloth are large enough for SHB to fall thru . The BB's are built so the bees can't enter from the front , and any tray I use can be built to close off the back . I also have a choice between DE and veggie oil , but prefer to use oil because DE tends to clump in our humid climate .


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## photobiker (Mar 23, 2015)

#8 which I believe is 1/8" wire separation should be good for the SHB to fall through. DE should be sifted instead of shaking or dumping. I made a little sifter with a couple of strips of wood leftover from hive building and and a 3" x 3" nylon window screen I had sitting around. Could just buy a powder sugar sifter and call it done, but I like to use what is around the house.


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## Terry C (Sep 6, 2013)

photobiker said:


> #8 which I believe is 1/8" wire separation should be good for the SHB to fall through. DE should be sifted instead of shaking or dumping. I made a little sifter with a couple of strips of wood leftover from hive building and and a 3" x 3" nylon window screen I had sitting around. Could just buy a powder sugar sifter and call it done, but I like to use what is around the house.


 Thanks . I'd use one of the screen boxes I made for sifting foundry sand , I have one that's made of regular window screen .


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

I have screened bottoms with oil pans on all 4 of my hives. I am using #8 mesh and the beetles have no problem falling through! I started with oil but then tried DE but like you said, in our humidity right now, I found it too clumpy even after sifting it in. I also found that any moisture that does drip down in there really gums it up. I have since switched back to oil in all of them and am much happier with it. I am using mineral oil since I read somewhere that veggie oil goes rancid. With the price of mineral oil at $8 quart at the pharmacy, I may switch to veggie oil. Not sure that the rancid "problem" is even an issue.


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## dynemd (Aug 27, 2013)

Mineral oil 1 gallon, Free shipping available with Prime or over $35 Click Amazon Link


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## MajorJC (Apr 13, 2013)

Mineral oil is $18.99/gal at tractor supply

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/ideal-animal-health-mineral-oil-light-1-gal


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

Thanks Dnymd! I use Amazon a ton and did not think to look there. Just ordered a gallon since I have a prim account.

Thank you also MajorJC. We have a tractor supply in town but the one on Amazon is only $.87 more expensive when I add sales tax. Can't drive the 12 miles round trip to town for $.87!


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

Oh, not sure I am allowed to use mineral oil in my hives since it is not EPA approved for use as in insecticide around honeybees!  (Tongue planted firmly in cheek!)


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## MajorJC (Apr 13, 2013)

TurnTex said:


> Thanks Dnymd! I use Amazon a ton and did not think to look there. Just ordered a gallon since I have a prim account.
> 
> Thank you also MajorJC. We have a tractor supply in town but the one on Amazon is only $.87 more expensive when I add sales tax. Can't drive the 12 miles round trip to town for $.87!


True, I also have an Amazon prime account and I will often pay a few cents more (or even a few dollars more occasionally) to order something delivered to my front porch instead of going out to buy it. I drive past my Tractor Supply almost every day so in this case I just stopped in and bought some. I had to buy a bag of horse stall bedding pellets for my smoker fuel also.









http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/ideal-animal-health-mineral-oil-light-1-gal


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

TurnTex said:


> I have screened bottoms with oil pans on all 4 of my hives. I am using #8 mesh and the beetles have no problem falling through! I started with oil but then tried DE but like you said, in our humidity right now, I found it too clumpy even after sifting it in. I also found that any moisture that does drip down in there really gums it up. I have since switched back to oil in all of them and am much happier with it. I am using mineral oil since I read somewhere that veggie oil goes rancid. With the price of mineral oil at $8 quart at the pharmacy, I may switch to veggie oil. Not sure that the rancid "problem" is even an issue.


I think some of the problems with vegetable oil going rancid is some have been using use oil that has animal fats in it from cooking meats.I am using new oil and so far have not seen any spoilage.It may spoil farther on down the line but as of right now I am OK with it.


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## photobiker (Mar 23, 2015)

This oil tray is something you buy or build. I guess you could cut the center out of a piece of plywood and insert the tray of choice.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

My first board to start with was one with 2 - 2" holes in it and screened with #8 hardware cloth.I only had a small piece and tried it to see what it would do.I painted it black around that hole since beetles like dark spots.I used a small sandwich tray with oil to catch them in and it worked.Now I only use one 2" hole and the same results.It looks like the bees are running the beetles in and carrying the small larvae and dumping them into the dark abyss of that hole.This has really taken care of my beetle problems.


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## Jim Brewster (Dec 17, 2014)

snapper1d said:


> I think some of the problems with vegetable oil going rancid is some have been using use oil that has animal fats in it from cooking meats.I am using new oil and so far have not seen any spoilage.It may spoil farther on down the line but as of right now I am OK with it.


Don't confuse rancidity with putrefaction. Fats go rancid when oxygen reacts with the double bonds in the fatty acid chains, followed by free radical chain reactions. The carbon double bonds are what make fatty acids "unsaturated," as opposed to being saturated with hydrogen atoms, so polyunsaturated oils like corn or soy go rancid more quickly than monounsaturated (olive, canola), or saturated (coconut, palm). Eventually they become a gummy polymer, which is useful as a wood finish (think linseed oil...). The smell of rancid oil is very distinctive. It's the smell of old cooking oil or old whole wheat flour (rancid wheat germ oil) stored at room temperature, or freshly oiled wood curing.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

snapper1d said:


> I think some of the problems with vegetable oil going rancid is some have been using use oil that has animal fats in it from cooking meats.I am using new oil and so far have not seen any spoilage.It may spoil farther on down the line but as of right now I am OK with it.


I have never had a problem with veg. oil going rancid. I change the oil every few weeks, but I just strain it through window screen and save it. I pour the oil into a pot and put fresh oil in the pan. I strain the oil and put it back in the 2 gal. bottle. Any thing left settles out and I pour the oil off into another bottle to use the next time.


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