The Bad, The Ugly, and The Good?

[brooksbeefarm]

This year has been like no other that i remember Hot and humid, i can take the heat, but the humidity is the killer for me. I've lost about as many hives this summer that i usually lose in the winter, mostly from SHB's. The rainy humid weather must be ideal for them? this is the first time i have lost hives to SHB? My queen raring took a hit also, nuc's never wanted to make queen cells and the ones that did the queens never made it back from there mating flight and the hive dwindled and SHB took over. Nasty, when you take the lid off the nuc or hive and pull a frame out with shb larva wiggling in the frams and on the bottom board and you see 100's or thousands of shb larva pilled up wiggling, it will make your skin crawl.
   I take those frames and lay them on a concrete pad in the hot sun and the hive without the frames in it and this makes short work of the shb larva, but i can't bring myself to reuse the drawn comb in those frames even if the haven't been slimmed or the wax from them :no:Just the idea of using lip balm made from this wax is sickening to me .If you haven't had shb attack and take over your hive YET, be thankful, and i hope you never do, i never thought i would have a problem with them either,so keep a close eye on your hives. Other than all this above, this has been one of the best honey producing years we've had in several years. Jack

[LazyBkpr]

My burn barrel is not far away..  If/when SHB make it this far I will probably dump the frames infested into it, pour some diesel or gas on it and toss a match on..     

[brooksbeefarm]

That would probably be the best way and i have set them on fire, but i'm retired and buy cleaning the comb out of the frames and dipping them in boiling Lye water and put new foundation in them i can save a dollar a frame, that's what i pay for them. I'm going to dip the supers in the Lye also, no use buying or making new med. or deep supers if i can get them cleaned up, most of them are like new? I'll give it a shot and see what happens? Jack

[Les]

Have to agree with you regarding the humidity.  I am so done with being soaked in sweat.

[Jen]

Always enjoy listening to your reports Jack. I don't know how shb is affecting Calif. I'm not dealing with it yet. And, it so dry and hot here that that might have something to do with the little b$#$%^@! not arriving to quickly. Sorry about the shb slimming buddy, I've dealing with wax moth all summer, not in the hives but repeatedly in the stored goods that I thought had been frozen long enough. Will be using BT soon as I get it in the mail.

[CBT]

If your hives are in full sun the SHB should be minimum. We have hives in full sun and some in shade. They do tend to explode this time of year.

[Perry]

When I saw the title of the thread I immediately thought it was about Iddee, Jack, and Perry (and in that order).

[Michelle]

  Perry!!!!!!!

[Perry]

Those 2 can give as good as they get Michelle, trust me I know!

[Michelle]

 

[Jen]

Good One Perry!  Too Shay

[Nugget Shooter]

Wow what a thing to have to deal with and I am sure glad the SHB is not a common issue in the AZ desert....

[Bakersdozen]

Oh boy!  I know exactly what you are looking at.  A while back I inspected a new beekeeper's hives to explain what he was seeing.  My stomach turned.  One hive was a wiggly squirmy mess of slime.  Some frames were salvageable but definitely needed to go in the freezer.  I suggested he throw the brood boxes in the freezer too.
 
I have a colony that was a swarm and they have quite a few SHB.  They are so cantankerous!  I was wanting to requeen, but I think I need to get the SHB under control first.  I tried to inspect them Friday and I must have had 100 stingers in my suit when I was done.  They wouldn't let me be.  They followed me into the garage and then into the house and then back out of the house!

[Jen]

Hoowee Baker, I had one of those mean hives last year and another one this year. I don't have shb tho. Does shb cause that kind of meanness? Can it kill the queen?

Think I'll start a thread on just what shb is and what it does to the hive...

[rober]

jack-
 I think the wet weather we're having has the beetle populations up. I've not lost any hives yet but have had to pull some infested frames. if the frames aren't slimed you can bag & freeze them & reuse them. just tap them on their side after freezing to knock most of the dead larva out. the bees will clean out the rest.
jen-
here's some info:
http://beeaware.org.au/archive-pest/small-hive-beetle/#ad-image-0

[brooksbeefarm]

Thanks for the video Rober, two of my hives the bees had left and the larva was everywhere on the combs and when i removed the frames the bottom board was piled up with them A beekeepers nightmare. Jack

[Jen]

Thanks Mikey! I'm thinking I should watch that vid 'before' I eat my dinner 

Watched it! I feel a Puke coming on 

Mikey I just started a thread on Small Hive Beetle. Maybe you can put these vids on that thread too. Very informative, have never seen the likes before.

[brooksbeefarm]

Jen i hope you never do, or the rest of you beekeepers, but i'm afraid this might become worse than the mites. Jack

[Jen]

Well that scares the poo out of me... HOWEVER, we have come up with OA and Formic Acid to combat the mites. So maybe soon there will be some products that will help with the Small Hive Beetle. That's the positive side. But I'll tell ya something, I dunno... If any hobby of mine turns into slime... I'm probably outa here.