Let's Talk Small Hive Beetle ~ SHB

[Jen]

I know there is a catagory where we can look up Small Hive Beetle, but I'm hearing about the slimy little creeps more and more as the weather gets a steady summer temperature.

What are they? Why are they slimy? Do they kill bees or the queen?

Let's Talk 

[Wandering Man]

The beetle isn't slimy. The slime comes from the larvae who are eating and pooping through honey stores and brood.

They're speedy little critters that are easy to crush with your hive tool, but hard to sting, if you're a bee.

They fly into the hive and try to lay eggs in uncapped (I think) cells. The bees will try to chase them out. They'll scurry into crevices where the bees can't reach. The bees set up a guard, and try to keep them corralled in place.

Usually the beek inadvertently releases the beetles from their jail when she opens the hive for an inspection.

When eggs are laid, and larvae have eaten their fill, the larvae make their way out of the hive to pupate in the soil. They can apparently crawl a long way, so putting the hive on a concrete slab isn't enough to stop the cycle.

Once the mature she emerges from the soil, she flies back into the hive, and the cycle continues.

[CBT]

You see two, in a week there are twenty and without intervention they will run your bees out.

Lots of ways to slow them down. If you don't care about the grass around your hives you can put a heavy coat of driveway salt under and around the hive three feet or more. This will melt them when they try to get into the ground. Heavy rain may send the salt somewhere you don't want it.

You can use D... Earth that found at the swimming pool supply. It is made of ground up sea shells and is very sharp dust and it cuts the larvae.

Beatle traps that go in the hive that you place cooking oil and vinegar in work good. I have a hive with 4 Beatle jails in it trying to knock them down quick.

Fat Bee man uses or demonstrates how to use plastic signs using crisco and roach power where the Beatles can get to it but the bees can't.

But above all having your hives in full sun is the best place to start. That seems to hold them to a minimum without treatment the longest.

This is an ongoing challenge in the south.

[Wandering Man]

I do multiple interventions, and I think my shb count is pretty low.

Freeman bottom board
Lot of sun most of the day
DE around the hives
Beetle Blasters filled with oil in my supers and one beetle jail with DE.

[G3farms]

Mine are in full sun and have rubber roofing under the hives for grass control. The rubber roofing seems to work in two ways...keeps the grass at bay and also lets the ants build under it. A SHB larva that hits the rubber roofing doesn't stand a chance around the hungry ants.

[sc-bee]

Swiffers--plain-- unscented- no name brand fine...  Dryer sheets have too have chemicals in them right?

[CBT]

I'll have some of those thank you

[Jen]

sc-bee, where do you place these swiffer sheets in the hive? Would they work well in a screen bottom board?

[neillsayers]

Jen,
I use the generic swiffer sheets. Just lay it flat across the top bars toward the rear. Occasionally a bee will get trapped in it but a bunch of beetles get trapped also. I have built little pans to slide in under my SBB filled with veg. oil. Adults and larva drown it it. When doing a varroa count, I smear the vasoline on heavy and it catches them as well. We have free range banty chickens and about twice a week I scatter scratch under my hives. The chickens come by every day scratching under the hives looking for a treat if they find SHB so much the better. My hives are in partial shade. I have noticed that the most shaded are the most infected. Also my Russian hives seem to never get too many of them while my  Italians have an ongoing problem. I don't have a large enough sample size to state that bee stock means anything so this is just anecdotal at best.
As already stated, they are hard little bugs, almost impossible to crush with one's fingertip-need the end of a hive tool. The slime comes when the larva defecate in the honey and nectar.

[sc-bee]

sc-bee, where do you place these swiffer sheets in the hive? Would they work well in a screen bottom board?

THe sheets are near the size of a standard legal paper sheet 8X10 or so. Cut it in 3 or four pieces and lay on top of boxes near the rest is where I put mine. They will catch anywhere on top of the box but the shb like to try and run to the frame rest and hide under the frames. The bee will eventually begin to glue the sheets down, the dark in the pic I posted. The small sheets are easier to remove than a whole sheet.

Some folks put them on bottom boards but seems easier not to have to tear the colony down. You can put them on top of honey supers or brood boxes. Put them where you see the bees corral the shb most.