# Small Hive Beetle sighting



## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

And more here this year than in any past years. Usually moths are a bigger problem but this year I have a feeling I'll be hearing more about
slimed out weak hives.
First year I am finding them in my pollen traps. Pulled a draw out and looked in and there were 8 or 10 in the drawer compartment.
No issues yet but I'm watching closely.
I'll be paying more attention to the methods of our southern colleagues going forward.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

I bet I smashed a hundred of the little monsters yesterday alone....all on perfectly healthy hives. The bees doing their job herding them to the tops of the inner cover. 
PS...that is one very good reason to use an inner cover. 
Also..in my mountain hives...a mere 100 miles north....when I pulled honey supers on Sunday....I never saw a single beetle. Amazing what a difference in such a short distance.


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## e-spice (Sep 21, 2013)

We had a mild winter in Tennessee but for some reason seeing very few in my hives, much less than prior years.


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

SHB have been around here in small quantities for several years. By small quantities I mean I've become used to seeing 2-3 in a hive, but by no means all hives. From talking to migratory beekeepers, and we have many close by, I figure they came north with them. 

This year is much different. It is not unusual to see 10-15 scrambling when the outer cover is removed, and I've had two queenless hives slimed. I'm blaming it on the very mild winter. Not doing anything to control, and hope to be able to keep it that way. 

Lloyd


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

I read a while back about using Swiffer sheets (unsented). Apparently the micorfibers that catch dust are also good at catching SHB legs. The bees don't get stuck but the beetles do. I tried it and yes, it works. When you open the hive, you don't have be quick about squishing them. Just pull out the strip of Swiffer and crush the ones that are still alive. Cheapest trap possible. A pack of sheets was 8 bucks and it will last me for 2 years after I cut them up.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Where are you putting them? What size are you cutting them up into?


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

I cut them into 2 inch by 6 inch strips. I put 2-3 in the top super, just under the inner cover.


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## TNValleyBeeK (Oct 3, 2012)

Hardly any in mine. East Tn. Last year was a free for all.


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## bsharp (Feb 5, 2013)

TNValleyBeeK said:


> Hardly any in mine. East Tn. Last year was a free for all.


I think they came west. I've had a lot slimed this year, including some of my strongest nucs. I should've done it weeks ago, but I'm doing a Gardstar drench tonight, along with crushing as many as I can every morning. Hopefully I can put enough of a dent in their numbers for my remaining hives to overwinter.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

My topbar hives don't usually have an issue at keeping the SHB at bay, but one nuc did this year. I used the Beetle be Gone sheets that someone gave me. Then I switched over to the ones I found at the Dollar Tree. Here is a video of how they work in the TBH. https://www.facebook.com/topbarbeehive/videos/1416457368380789/


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## Redhawk (Jun 7, 2016)

Shb are thick in mid Tn. I'm definitely going to read the box of swiffer tomorrow. I thought those things have an order to them.


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## Bwood (May 7, 2015)

This is my 6th year in keeping bees and I too have had an increase in SHB sightings this year. Past years have been an occasional one to none but a week ago I checked 8 hives and 5 of the eight had 6-8 beetles on the inner cover being herded by the bees. All of the hives have strong bee populations. (3-without SHB get full sun till dusk. 5-with SHB start getting some dappled shade at 3-4 PM.) Yesterday I placed traps with mineral oil and apple cider but I must say I am curious about the Swiffer sheets and may try that too.


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## Geno (Apr 23, 2015)

Here in Southern Illinois, my hives are being overrun with SHB. My hives are in full sun, I have treated the ground with Gardstar, using CD cases and Swifter pads for traps. Hundred have been captured or smashed with hive tool in the past two weeks. Not much fun...😞


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## popeye (Apr 21, 2013)

Oil trays work very well. Oil trays may be impractical for sideliners and commercial. But the swiffer pads are better than whacking them. 
Google Jerry Freeman. He has some good info on shb. Also info on his beetle trap and why it's designed that way. He's over in Arkansas where there's plenty of small hive beetles. There's some good info on beesource about the oil trays and several designs and different ways people use them. 
I've been seeing more shb in my hives that have more shade than sun this year too. The beetles are bad this time of year. Didn't know they aren't so bad in Nebraska.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Have never seen them here. Many hives in almost full shade.

But I keep reduced entrances except in winter and strong colonies as best I can. I figure the more bee traffic density, the less likely a beetle is going to be able to sneak in. The only time I thought I might have seen one was when a little black beetle landed on the landing board of one of my colonies. Immediately a bee balled it and then another bee came and picked it up and flew off with it.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Really I'm not worried about it. I've seen much worse in people's hives in Georgia, Louisianna, Florida, North and South Carolina etc. and they were doing fine. But I was surprised and not pleased to see them.


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## Redhawk (Jun 7, 2016)

bobbybee said:


> I read a while back about using Swiffer sheets (unsented). Apparently the micorfibers that catch dust are also good at catching SHB legs. The bees don't get stuck but the beetles do. I tried it and yes, it works. When you open the hive, you don't have be quick about squishing them. Just pull out the strip of Swiffer and crush the ones that are still alive. Cheapest trap possible. A pack of sheets was 8 bucks and it will last me for 2 years after I cut them up.


Bobby, swiffer makes several different "sheets" for different applications. Can you be more specific on which sheets? They have duster, wet jet, sweeper, & that's just what my wife buys. I'm sure if they made different ones than these she'd have 'em! :shhhh:


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## dynemd (Aug 27, 2013)

Unscented Swiffer Sweeper Dry- Like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035G075O/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

thanks dynemd, those are the ones.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I haul all of my hives to SC for the Winter, and then haul them back to NY for the Summer come May. I don't recall seeing any shb in my hives while in SC last Winter/Spring and have seen none in them this Summer. Yesterday I helped to go through 500 some migratory hives, which go to GA for the Winter, and saw none.

I had one mildly slimmed hive years ago, a hive that had been left in SC through the Summer. None of the other 5 hives were damaged in any way, even though there were adult beetles in them.


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## ToeOfDog (Sep 25, 2013)

Michael Bush: 

You are a good enough beekeeper that you don't need top worry about SHB. August is the peak of the SHB season. Keep the colonies strong and the hive tight. Reduce the entrance to 4.5" X .5" or less. A tight fitting debris tray under a SBB gives them someplace to hide from pursuing bees.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

So it's the "TRAP + LOCK" that does it...


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

It's easy, real easy, to think that "hey I got this shb thing under control" and then one day you go to look in the yard and there is a puddle of honey under a hive that has not been discovered by the other bees yet. Then it gets robbed. Have been out of action a while with a bad case of water on the knee. Just recovering and am kind of afraid to go look to see it there are any casualties.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> I don't recall seeing any shb in my hives while in SC last Winter/Spring and have seen none in them this Summer. Yesterday I helped to go through 500 some migratory hives, which go to GA for the Winter, and saw none.


Some things just don't seem to make sense. I like to think I'm a pretty good beekeeper yet I can find dozens in most of my hives this time of year. And heaven help me if a hive goes queenless and I miss it. 
Maybe I'm not as good a beekeeper as I think.


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## tjbj (Mar 20, 2016)

I don't have the dry sweeper sheets, but do have the dry duster sheets...do you think those would work just as well? Inspected yesterday, saw some shb's for the first time, and would like to give this a shot.


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

TJBJ- I would give it a shot. worst case scenario is that you wasted 5 minutes of your time and it doesn't work.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

beemandan said:


> Maybe I'm not as good a beekeeper as I think.


I'm pretty sure I am not as good a beekeeper as I think I am. I don't know about you. Especially after going through all of those hives yesterday I thought to myself, "This guy has more bees in his hives in this one yard than I have in two of my yards."

I can easily imagine if my bees stayed in SC all year round that they would have beetles like yours. Isn't SC where shb were first found in the US? I wonder why they haven't gotten any more worse than they have?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> Isn't SC where shb were first found in the US? I wonder why they haven't gotten any more worse than they have?


I'm not sure where they were first reported in the US but I do know that the farther south you go the worse they are. 
I've worked bees south of Macon...and they were significantly worse than here. I have no idea how the year-round FL beekeepers survive. Yet, as I said in an earlier post, in my NC mountain beeyard, about a hundred miles north of here....nada. 
Late summer, when working bees here, I remove the tcover, crush beetles then remove the inner cover. When pulling frames for inspection, I never remove frames 1 or 10...the outermost frames....as the outside of each will often have dozens. The bees doing their job...driving them away from the brood nest. 
Harvesting honey...I only pull the supers I can extract within 24 hours...or 48 if I'm in a real pinch. 72 hours can be a disaster.
Swiffer pads, oil traps, screened bottoms with oil traps below...I've seen them all. Yet, here, when I open the hives with those things...there are still just as many beetles as there are in mine. The only thing I've seen that will totally clean them up are beetle barns with fipronil roach bait. If I had a major shb emergency....I suppose I might even do that.


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## tjbj (Mar 20, 2016)

bobbybee said:


> TJBJ- I would give it a shot. worst case scenario is that you wasted 5 minutes of your time and it doesn't work.


I'm thinking they're the same thing, just different sizes. Thankfully we only saw adult shb's and zero larvae, so we'll definitely try this little trick to head 'em off at the pass! Thanks!


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

beemandan said:


> I have no idea how the year-round FL beekeepers survive.



Like pretty much everything else some bees have learned how to deal with them, we have only had them a few yr up here in my part of IL, and already, my bees are learning to flip them and haul them out of the hive.... the only hive that was close to being slimed was a queenless nuc but I caught it before any real damage was done. Some of this may be because how my hives are set up too, everyone locally that I have talked to that had a queenright hive slimed had an inner cover and telescoping cover and wide open entrances, some of these were strong hives too. I keep my entrances choked down no greater than 4 inches... even when it's hot out and on a major flow so it's hard for a beetle to even get in, and with no hiding spaces once inside they are constantly on the run.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Harley Craig said:


> Like pretty much everything else some bees have learned how to deal with them,


SHB is a tropical pest. As I said...the farther south you go the worse they become. My beeyard a hundred miles north of here...nada. You go to south Ga or Fl...and they're in hives by the hundreds. It isn't about what your bees 'learn' to do. It's about the volume of parasites they have to contend with. Your Illinois bees have no idea......


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Me2 on what Harley said about reducing entrances. Quit using inner covers as well. Still find beetles but not in herds hiding in the inner covers like last summer. This thread got me a little nervous so I did a little checking and so far I got no shb losses yet. Oh they're there just under control at the moment. The very first thing I do upon opening a hive is to look at the under-side of the cover. It sure is nice NOT seeing them nasty little devils like last year.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

aunt betty said:


> Me2 on what Harley said about reducing entrances.


The real danger is screened bottoms. 



aunt betty said:


> Quit using inner covers as well.


I think you have it wrong on inner covers. The bees drive them up onto those covers...as far as possible from the brood....and there it is easier to find and smash them. Otherwise they end up on the top bars and as soon as you open the hive they scatter inside. And your bees have to start all over corralling them.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

beemandan said:


> SHB is a tropical pest. As I said...the farther south you go the worse they become. My beeyard a hundred miles north of here...nada. You go to south Ga or Fl...and they're in hives by the hundreds. It isn't about what your bees 'learn' to do. It's about the volume of parasites they have to contend with. Your Illinois bees have no idea......


yet there are many up here that get slimed even those with strong colonies......., and there are beeks in FL that do nothing for them and don't have issues, so you tell me what's going on, it's either a learned response, or management technique, or a combination of the 2. Honestly......my thinking on at least one reason why they are worse the further south you go, is the fact that the further south you go the more likely you will find a majority of screened bottom boards.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Harley Craig said:


> management technique,


Any long term successful far southern beekeeper has learned to manage for them. 

I've said it before. If they go queenless...even for a few days here...bang...they're history. Crush bees on the inner cover. Do not remove frames 1 or 10. And just say NO to screened bottom boards.
And those folks farther south, almost surely have discovered things to do that I haven't considered. 

I think the use of screened bottom boards is pretty universal...foolish...but not unique to the south.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

I've seen a total of 6 this year.

EDIT: No screened bottom boards here


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## Geno (Apr 23, 2015)

To those on this thread experiencing SHB problems:

Do you use open SBB?

Do you use slatted racks?

Thanks in advance for your comments.


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## bobbybee (Sep 8, 2014)

I have screen bottom boards as well as solid bottom boards. The biggest variable in my hives is the amount of sun they receive.

Full sun (4 hives)= no beetles
Partial sum(3 hives)= a few beetles
Mostly shade (4 hives) = the most beetles.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

beemandan said:


> The real danger is screened bottoms.
> 
> 
> I think you have it wrong on inner covers. The bees drive them up onto those covers...as far as possible from the brood....and there it is easier to find and smash them. Otherwise they end up on the top bars and as soon as you open the hive they scatter inside. And your bees have to start all over corralling them.


Others have had success with the no inner cover and migratory cover approach up here. Some use SBB's with oil or water pans but from what I'm seeing solid bottoms with migratory covers works (here) plus keeping em strong and queen right is what matters most anyway I think. Have nucs and 3-frame queen castle size colonies that are doing ok. One is queenless but has cells. It's not the same I guess up here but we still have them critters that ruin a hive.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

aunt betty said:


> It's not the same I guess up here but we still have them critters that ruin a hive.


It only takes one to wreck a hive. On the other hand a hundred or so will do it with gusto.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Michael Bush said:


> Really I'm not worried about it. I've seen much worse in people's hives in Georgia, Louisianna, Florida, North and South Carolina etc. and they were doing fine. But I was surprised and not pleased to see them.


So who's moved in next door?


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## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

Michael Bush said:


> Where are you putting them? What size are you cutting them up into?


 I have seen more than my share of shb in SC this year. The over wintered heavily as we had a very mild winter even for SC. What folks don't understand is they will raise in rotting fruit, they love melons, and I live in an ag area. And yes they were first identified in Chareleston SC. You can use the no-name swiffer/micro fiber sheet. They are a bit cheaper. Dollar store brand etc.. plain, unscented. They are the size of a standard sheet of paper. I cut them in about three pieces or more and palce them on top of the brood chamber near the frame rest where the bees corral the shb. Of course if they are corralling them in the corners of the top honey super under the cover put them there too. 
They attack nucs worse. The two sheets on the left were in one nuc and the single sheet to the right in another.


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## Legends (Aug 21, 2016)

I am in the Texas Panhandle. I had never seen SHB in my hives or feral colonies until yesterday 8/20/16. I rescue feral colonies that end up in the wrong areas. Such was the occasion yesterday, the bees had constructed their hive outside the house under the eve. This was a first for me, I had never seen bees do this. They were doomed of course once cold weather sets in. So, my point for what its worth, although the hive was completely in the open SHB were present. Sunlight, height of the hive (10 feet off the ground), nor the absence of any type of bottom board prevented the infestation of this colony. What I've done thus far is quarantine the colony, killed all the matures I found (no larvae observed no slimming of comb), I left only brood and pollen comb in the hive box as is my custom to give them time to recover, and froze the honey filled comb. I will give it back to them in a week having killed any remaining SHB. I am generally, and principally against insecticide use. However, I am considering a trench around the hive adding Permectin and replacing the dirt in hopes any SHB trying to pupate in the soil outside this hive will be killed. This is not a strong hive, time of year in conjunction with the relocate I'm afraid without some emergency intervention they will not survive. Michael do you think this is a mistake? I will add the swiffer sheets to the arsenal as well Thanks SC-BEE and continue to post results.


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## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

> Legends


I have ony used the drench once. SHB took over that hive later. Drench may get most near a hive but the shb can crawl a pretty good distance to pupate. What size box did you put the colony in. Confine the hive to as small as space as needed during growth. Use a follower board if the box is too large. 

The swiffers work good in particualr in small boxes while the colony is growing. I had a nuc abscond this year due to shb. I caught the swarm and placed it on clean comb in a new nuc (five frame) with no-name swiffers. It is back up to a full five frames. 

I have found several small strips around the edges of the box (on top of frame rest etc where the bees corrral the shb) work better than a big cloth. The bees begin to propolize/ glue the swiffer down the longer you leave the swiffer in the box. The larger sheets are harder to housekeep after glued down and I find most of the beetles are trapped around the edges of the box anyway. So I half or split the sheets multiple times.


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## Legends (Aug 21, 2016)

Thank you sc-bee. I have them in one brand new 10 frame deep with solid bottom board. By the time I get their honey back to them the box might have 2 empty frames. I will put your advice to work this evening. It doesnt sound like you think the drench would hurt so I'll implement that as well. Thanks Again!


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## Joe Mac (Jun 1, 2016)

Legends,



> I am generally, and principally against insecticide use. However, I am considering a trench around the hive adding Permectin and replacing the dirt in hopes any SHB trying to pupate in the soil outside this hive will be killed.


I'm also generally opposed to insecticide use and next spring I plan to try nematodes for SHB control. They are microscopic roundworms that live in the soil and eat the pupae of the SHB while they are in the ground. I predict that in a few years or less, the SHB will develop a resistance to the permethrin drenches being used today, just like the chemicals used to kill varroa mites become ineffective after a few years. 

Here's a link to one company that grows and sells nematodes. 

http://www.southeasterninsectaries.com/nematodes.php


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## Legends (Aug 21, 2016)

Thanks for the link Joe Mac, most interesting and useful. Taken together with sc-bees results with the drench and my disdain for insecticides. I'm gonna give these folks in Georgia a call and order a bag. I should have time they said 14 days to get them to me. Its certainly one or the other. Nematodes and Swiffer I don't think the SHBs are gonna see this coming. Thank you!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Legends said:


> I am generally, and principally against insecticide use. However, I am considering a trench around the hive adding Permectin and replacing the dirt in hopes any SHB trying to pupate in the soil outside this hive will be killed. This is not a strong hive, time of year in conjunction with the relocate I'm afraid without some emergency intervention they will not survive. Michael do you think this is a mistake? I will add the swiffer sheets to the arsenal as well Thanks SC-BEE and continue to post results.


They are Beetles, Legends. Beetles have wings. They can and will fly over whatever you plant in the ground.

If your hive is not strong, take other measures. Drenching the ground with poison will not improve the strength of your colony of bees.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Legends said:


> Michael do you think this is a mistake?


Which small hive beetle expert named Michael are you asking? I hope you can get someone....not necessarily named Michael....who keeps bees in Texas to answer. I think Mark's (sqkcrk) advice is sound. Determine what the underlying problem is within the hive...and solve it. Dumping stuff into the soil isn't going to fix it.


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## Legends (Aug 21, 2016)

Yes sqkcrk indeed the beetles do have wings and in fact according to my research fly quite well and for great distance. But, the larvae do not have wings and do not fly. They do however leave the hive and burrow into the ground to pupate approximately 18 to 26 inches from the hive box itself from wince they hatched. I have considered other measures as you have suggested and I believe the problem is that they are weak, possibly a late swarm but, evidence was present at the structure where I relocated them indicating the owners of the property had tried to poison them. I asked and they denied the same. I understand that even strong hives can be over run with these beetles. This colony was an easy mark. I will not drench, it flies in the face of everything I believe. I plan to use sc-bees and Joe Macs advice (swiffer and nematodes) as well as yours and beemandan's. Thank you for your advice and you are right, poison in the ground is not the answer. Beemandan Michael is Michael Bush, I do not know if he is or claims to be a beetle expert but from what I have read he claims neither. I have however read everything he has written as far as I know. I respect his knowledge and I apply his concepts to everything I do in my hives and to great success thus far. He has forgotten more about bees than I will ever know. His posts are where I go for all my questions and this was yet another question I needed an answer for. Seeking his advice was just second nature to me. But you are right I should have been more clear as to whom I was asking. The SHB seems to be a world wide issue to beekeepers everywhere. I am not sure Texas is the place to start that is why I asked for advice in this forum. Thanks to people like yourself I got the answers I needed and avoided a mistake and a conflict with myself at the same time. Thank you all very much!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>So who's moved in next door?

No one that I know of.

>I am generally, and principally against insecticide use. However, I am considering a trench around the hive adding Permectin and replacing the dirt in hopes any SHB trying to pupate in the soil outside this hive will be killed.

The fly. They are in other hives that are going down the highway and flying off to find hives. How does drenching the ground help? They reproduce in people's compost bins and on rotting fruit. Then they fly for miles.

> This is not a strong hive, time of year in conjunction with the relocate I'm afraid without some emergency intervention they will not survive. Michael do you think this is a mistake?

I'm no expert on small hive beetles. But other than borax and boric acid I do not use any insecticides for anything anywhere and I wouldn't use those in the hive. I use them in my house to get rid of ants and roaches. I've never sprayed any systemic pesticide on anything that I had any say so about. My fruit trees have always done fine without them.


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## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

Legends said:


> Beemandan Michael is Michael Bush,


Negative


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