Beesource Beekeeping Forums - Diseases and Pests

Small Hive Beetles?????

tibadoe — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:53:01 GMT

Our new hive is only two weeks old today and upon my second inspection I think we have a SHB. I attached two photos, one of the beetle and one of the larvae in the bottom. The larvae looks like wax moth??? Is this normal to have these pests at only two weeks with all new equipment? Where did they come from? What to do?

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My guess is due to a new colony without a build up of bees is why they invaded.

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Ants stealing sugar water

mary layne — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:51:16 GMT

How do I control ants stealing from the feeder I read cinammon will help sprinkled it around hives wondering any other solutions

Help Me (What is this Pest)

Five Ponds — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:18:39 GMT

So, I just started beekeeping and I know that a few of my hives have small hive beetles. One of my hives died, on the bottom board there was about 1/2 inch or so of what looked like bee droppings. Maybe the bees never left the hive and made droppings in their hive because they were too worried about the small hive beetle infestation. In the 1/2 Inch of what I think was bee droppings in the bottom board were SOOOOOOO many larvae of something it was ridiculous. The larva was really squirmy and longer than an adult small hive beetle. They were also ALL IN the comb, and by all in the comb I mean they took it over. I need some help ASAP. What should I do with this hive, Remove it from the beeyard or what?

Bee Assassin caught on film.

mrmarkham — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:18:13 GMT

These guys have been showing up all over my yard since I placed my hives. They are getting pretty bold and pulling bees right off the hive.

question about Bacillus thuringiensis Thuricide

Sami Kassoum — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:22:13 GMT

Hi all
I have a wax moth in my area, so I bought Bacillus thuringiensis Thuricide according to advise i had read in
a book about beekeeping. have anyone used it ? is it useful against wax moth and don't harm the bees?
thank you.

My Bee Grabbed a Beetle and Took it in the Hive

TheGeneralsBees — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:53:25 GMT

This evening I was watching my Top Bar Hive entrances and saw a beetle landing on the alighting board. A bee grabbed it and pulled in in the hive. Is that normal?

The hive is a 7 week old top bar hive. It appears to be pretty strong, we have had great nectar and pollen since I installed it and it has 11 bars of comb, 7 are 80%+ built and has had tons of emerging brood. I inspected the hive just yesterday and that is the first beetle I have seen. I suspect that the bees will put it in jail before it can lay eggs, but is that normal? I would have thought a guard would have grabbed it and taken it elsewhere. I was surprised to see it captured and taken inside the hive. Any insights on this behavior?

MAQS Bee Murder

T152 — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:58:39 GMT

Yes, I know, I know, I shouldn't use miticides or anything in my hive but I purchased some bees from a guy who told me to treat for varroa and I did, but to my horror MAQS seemed to kill my bees. I left the treatment in the hive for an hour and I went out to see how they were doing and there were a dozen or so bees on the bottom boards of my two hives dead or in the process of dying. When I first placed the strips in the hive, the bees quickly scurried away and were very upset, making a very noticeable displeased hum. I did everything the instructions advised me to do so I know that it wasn't operational error. I guess the point I'm trying to make is- this can't be normal. I've tried contacting the company but all I got was a "please leave a message" and so I tried calling my experienced beekeeping friend who sold me the bees. He wasn't home so I decided while I wait I might as well ask you all. I removed the strips as soon as I noticed this problem and I did a mite count a day prior- 13 varroa in one hive and 7 in another for a daily drop. I realize that this number may not have been high enough to treat but I couldn't find anything in my books or online which advised me as to what number was the treatment threshold. Could one of you please tell me this as well? Thanks.

Looking for diagnosis

Tim B — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:41:02 GMT

Back in March I had six or eight hives with unusually large die offs. Double handfulls of bees dead in front of the entrances. I attributed it to yellow Jasmine. I have one hive that is still having the same sort of problems. There is a significant pile of dead bees around the entrance and there is always ten to fifteen bees on the ground in front of the hive quivering. This has been going on for two months. The hive is not as strong as what it should be but is strong enough to be working in two supers in addition to a full deep. Five other hives in the same location are not suffering from the same symptoms. I'm guessing that I'm dealing with a virus or there is still some bad honey. We're not near agriculture but we are near a park where spraying may be happening on ball fields. I look for the hive to crash as soon as the nectar is gone. What is causing the die off?

Does Varroa have a natural reservoir?

Aerindel — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:43 GMT

Most diseases have a "reservoir" in nature, usually a species that is not effected or at least not strongly effected by the disease. Its these reservoirs that make it impossible to eradicate the disease species because they provide a continual source that re-infects the host species even if all of hosts are cured.

The only reason small pox could be eradicated was because it had no natural vector, it was only spread from humans to other humans.

Is varroa only spread from bees to bees? or does it survive on other insects in the wild?

Some Sick Bees video. What is this???!!

ChasWG — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:25:34 GMT

I posted a question in the general bee forum about my sick bees. They seem to exhibit some of the signs of tracheal mites by not being able to fly though otherwise looking perfectly healthy. I was told by my wife that last weekend a door to door sales person stopped by the house offer a bug and spider spraying service all around the house and type of pesticide. Of course we didn't pay them, but others in the neighborhood might have. And I was told by my local bee store that some of these same symptom as tracheal mites are like poisoning too. Over the past two days I have seen only about 5 bees each day affected like this in front of the hive. Then today I saw about 15, maybe 20 bees in front of the hive. Some huddled together, other wandering aimlessly and almost "drunk" walking around.

So I grabbed my cell phone and shot some video of the bees. I happened to capture a couple very interesting clips of a yellow, mustard like goo coming out of the back side of the bees. Once they expelled the mess, they flew off, where before that they where heaving the abdomen and pulling on their tongues.

Please watch the video and tell me what you think this is.

The other thing I have been thinking with this is that they seem to have a nasty "tummy ache." Could it be the 1:1 sugar syrup I am feeding my 4 week old package hive? Should I get them some Honey B Healthy to add to their syrup? How should I be preparing the syrup? I have been using tap water, should I use only bottled water? The water here in Aurora is actually very good water. It actually wins awards for some of the best water in the US contests year after year. But that's for humans, not bees.

Any ideas?

I am collecting dead bees

mayhem_mike — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:09:47 GMT

Hello,
I dont know if this is the right place for this But I tried this before but I got caught up in full time school/work so deals kind of fell off track. Im looking for a bunch of dead honey bees. I need them for a head dress so if any one has some to spare or sell Id be interested. I realize they smell terrible so if you have ones that are dried and in great shape excellent otherwise dry smelly in a well sealed bag works fine.

brood disease?

Ben Little — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:12:36 GMT

I just did an inspection on a nice strong hive today that appears to have a Brood Disease. I am a newer Beekeeper , so please take it easy on me if I am not explaining it properly. The course I am taking did a Lab on Brood diseases and I saw AFB in Late stages there.

But what I am seeing is a very few amount of cells that are slightly uncapped with pin holes in them , and when I scratch them open , I see a rubbery brownish pupae with an undeveloped head . The hive has great brood patterns and is very strong as well .
I am a little worried , because I have never dealt with a Brood disease other than Chalkbrood at the course I am taking , that I found when I went through a hive to assess it for issues.

Could this be Sacbrood ?

I did alert my Bee Health Inspector today Via email .

But I wanted to hear what your thoughts were ?

Do you need a picture or does this sound like something you have had before?

Thanks

Ben L

Varroa mites

pyro — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:09:57 GMT

1st year beek here. From what I have read, it seems like all bees are affected by the varroa mite. I looked at my bees very closely and could not spot any. Is this possible or am i not looking closely enough?

Thanks

What to do with frames?

Wallroad — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:50:47 GMT

Lost one of my colonies the other day. Left with junky stuff on brood frames. (comb is on plastic foundation.) What should I do with it now?6.JPG

Attached Images

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Anything New In Small Hive Beetle Eradication?

Kidbeeyoz — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:03:06 GMT

Hi! all. I was wanting to know if there was anything new in America for SHB control.

In Australia we use oil, lime and diatomaceous earth traps, Apithor, spray outside the hives to kill the larvae and in our State of Queensland we have a scientist working on mycelium control of them.