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SHB in CA? You bet your hiney!

5K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  KQ6AR 
#1 ·
Went to remove the the two remaining supers from my hives in town to feed what honey was in them to the bees in the country and upon removing them and shaking the bees off the frames I discovered at least 20+ hive beetles in each super!

I have never seen a SHB in any of my country hives, period. None of the combs were slimed and I didn't see any larva from WM or SHB.

Here are the conditions of the town hives:
Mostly shaded, loose soil under hive stand with Ivy and other vegatation surrounding the area.

I'm thinking hard about moving the town hives out to the country where they would be in direct sun and hard packed clay/gravel terrain.

What do you guys suggest that have to deal with this issue?

Ps- both town hives are really strong right now, so no problem with populations there.
 
#6 ·
I used some for ants, they just walk all over it after awhile. Depends on moisture too as it will absorb it and cake up quickly or if you get light showers or fog frequently you would have to re-apply often. It only slows down larvae going to pupate, if you have lots of adults coming in, it won't make any difference.
 
#8 ·
Bees4you,

Yup, they look like those pictures. I figured the bees in the supers would have attacked them, but after watching for a while they did nothing except walk over the beetles. I observed the beetles for a little while watching them go in and out if empty cells, they didn't like to be caught going across the comb much and would duck into the closest empty cell they could find. I crushed some with the hive tool and shook a bunch off the combs, but I imagine they are already back in the hive since they can fly, which I didn't know!
 
#13 ·
Same thing I was thinking Dan, and I'm a lot closer to Livermore than you are! Haven't seen the beetles yet, but found Black Widows in each lid when checking our three the other day. That was a first, although we find them everywhere else in the yard and garage, so not a big surprise.
 
#11 ·
I've seen a few adults each year for the past two years. Last Saturday, I found a patch of about
100 larvae in each of three pollen patties - one per hive. This was in a yard of about 20 hives. They were only in the patty - none on the frames anywhere, and each patch was compact - about the size of a silver dollar. I killed them all, removed the slightly slimed area on the patty, and replaced the rest. I saw no adults anywhere. I left wondering abut no adults and also wondering how many adults would this size patch of larvae indicate had been there? And where
did they go? Did the bees do away with them, or did they leave on their own looking for another hive to feed their slimey offspring? Anyway, I hope they and no more of their ilk
return.
 
#12 ·
Dan,

I collected a bunch In a cup and sent them to you, I heard they help control Varroa, just dump them in through the top of the hive! LOL

I need to check with my buddy that has hives in the same area and find out if he has them as well.
 
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