Bottom Boards with Small Hive Beetle Trap

JC · 06-04-2010, 12:06 PM

I lost 80% of my colonies due to the small hive beetle. Three years ago I did not know what a small hive beetle looked like!

Can anyone recommend a bottom board with a small hive beetle trap?

Thanks!

**fish_stix** · 06-04-2010, 06:55 PM

Go to youtube.com and search for Small Hive Beetle. Watch the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0mO-cYTZ58

**David LaFerney** · 06-04-2010, 08:16 PM

I built my own -

The entrance reducer (I believe in small entrances) forces the beetles to cross the death pit of oil to get into the hive, and there isn't a rim around the floor for them to hide in the corners of. Not many get in.

It has a place to store a sticky board when it isn't in use.

As you can see I use inexpensive aluminum turkey pans which are actually a little deeper than would be ideal, but are the perfect size for my 8 frame equipment. I see beetles in the oil, but almost never in the hives.

The down side to this approach is that the oil can get pretty nasty if it catches lots of beetles, beetle or wax moth larva, ants, roaches - stuff you wouldn't otherwise even know was getting in there. Any way when the oil gets gross you have to change it or it will start stinking. If you have a syrup leak it will collect under the oil and ferment - I guess you should be more careful with syrup than that anyway. On the other hand all that nasty stuff would be infesting your hive without it. This is my second design, and I can tell you that it is important that the box and access door be tight enough to keep out ants or they will take up residence in there under the pan where the bees can't get to them. Even so, it's better than having SHB as far as I'm concerned.

**Dirtyt3** · 06-07-2010, 05:42 PM

Ya I made that same trap using 2''x4''s. widened the interence to 1''-1/2 at the sides and brought the bottom screen and oil pan 3/4'' forward out side the front edge of the hive body. Catches some rain water but not enough to be a problem. Used the Dadants' beetle trap pans. I'll say this I lost 5 hives cause to SHBs' over 100 (9'') inch frames of honey ruined in one weeks time. I haven't found more then 2 beetles out of 15 hives since I put this type designed board on them. And do says catches hand fulls of SHBs in the oil pans. The beetles move in and out of the hives more frequent than one would think, making the enterence peace and location of it important.

**snarky** · 06-08-2010, 08:31 AM

I use cookie sheets (3/4 inch deep) - I build them into the hive stand, the down side is that they fill up with hive debris, so you have to do an oil change every couple of weeks.

**David LaFerney** · 06-08-2010, 12:23 PM

I've carefully made mine so that bees and beetles and other bugs can't get into the hives by way of the box that the oil pan is in - by coming up through the screen. It also doesn't let in much air from the bottom and is fairly tedious to make. Are you guys doing the same thing or basically just putting a pan of oil under a regular screened bottom board? If so do you have a problem with bees drowning in the oil?

**Dirtyt3** · 06-08-2010, 03:48 PM

Ya This was the starting idea. Mine is the same but cut a groove in the landing board for the pan to slide into as like the sides do, simply screw the landing board between the side pieces flush to the bottom of the top groove. Use 2x4 or 2x6 if you what a larger landing width. cut the entrance piece same as yours. But I moved the screen and pan forward to catch the beetles as they try to go around the entrance piece outside the hive. The guard bees keep the beetles off of the sides and top of the entrance piece as they try to enter the hive. Put a piece of foam weather strip to the back top edge of the pan, it seals to the back board of the bottom board as you slide it in place.

http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/botto...ottomboard.htm

**theriverhawk** · 06-08-2010, 08:14 PM

I bought this from a guy here local. He sells them on Ebay. They work really well when/if you have a hive that has some high numbers of beetles.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-Hive-Beetl...item45f353a0c2

I've also purchased some of the beetle traps that slip in between frames. Luckily, I haven't had to use them this year. This year's beetle presence has been very low.