# Looking forward to hard, hard frozen soil - and reduced hive beetles



## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

I sure hope you're right. We are having a historic snow storm here in NW Ohio with lows not seen in the past 200 years. I've noticed that a hard (true) winter usually means that we have less mosquitoes and flies in the summer.


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## SunnyR2000 (May 9, 2012)

Are you guys wrapping your hives for this super cold snap?


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

SunnyR2000 said:


> Are you guys wrapping your hives for this super cold snap?


Mine were already wrapped. It is supposed to be above freezing this weekend, so we shall see. I am not holding my breath for the nucs with the smaller clusters.


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## SunnyR2000 (May 9, 2012)

We had a really cold snap (multiple -30 days) in October. I bought some R-19, wrapped it in 3.5 mil black plastic and wrapped my hives with it. Yes, R-19 is overkill, but short term - only for the very cold days. My hives made it through it. Hopefully we can pull most of them through the winter. 

Fingers crossed for you.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

Mine are in R7.5 to R10. Thanks, Sunny!


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## SunnyR2000 (May 9, 2012)

My "super insulators" are easily removable and only for the very, very cold days. You don't want to leave those babies on during warmer but not warm enough days...if you know what I mean. 

It's a more hands-on approach, but I have a hobby apiary. My #1 goal is to get bees to live year over year.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

I am planning on leaving mine on until March. I don't think it's going to hurt them any since they only slow down the heat loss. Then, mine are not super tight either.


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

I'm hoping for far less beetles this year as well.

Last winter wasn't too cold, but we've had some bitter cold snaps this year, and its staying really cold for a while now. Couple days ago when it got up into the 40's I went out to start getting old planters cleaned out I was lifting sheets of soil about an inch and a half thick off the tops that were just frozen solid.

Should help with the mosquitoes too.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

How far down into the soil do the hive beetle larvae typically bore?


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## RobWok (May 18, 2011)

From what I read: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/small_hive_beetle.htm it's 10 to 20 cm. So, at most, 7 inches. We're having some of the coldest winter we've had in a long time here. 

However, it's not going to do us a ton of good as they pupate about every 4 months. I'm hoping the combination of super cold winter frozen ground will help. I've also read that frost heave can loosen up soil, which may not be the best thing for us. I've done some experimenting looking at hives when they're really cold. The beetles die with the bees. They are parastiitc even of the warmth the bees produce. If the bees can push them to the outside of the cluster, then they'll freeze. I had some hives last year that died out, and when I pulled the bees from the center, the adult beetles were there. I don't know if the beetles crawled there after the hive stopped moving or not. I think one interesting experiment would be to see the mobility between a bee and a hive beetle based on temperature. Meaning, say at 35 degrees, the honeybee has mobility at half the speed of a hive beetle. That would indicate the beetle can outmaneuver the bee. However, if the reverse were true, that may explain why beetles don't do as well up north as they have a smaller body mass, and maybe the bees can move them to the outside of the cluster. It seems like a simple experiment for someone to do.

Rob.


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

One other thing you can do to help slow down the beetles, put something hard under the front of your hive. I use a paving stone. The idea being that beetle larva that crawl out of the hive land on hard stone and are exposed to wildlife until they can inch their way off to the side to find the ground. Means things like birds and ants can pick them off easier.


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