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Control of Small Hive Beetle

18K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  max2 
#1 ·
I am posting this from New Zealand and although we do not have SHB in our country, I read a very interesting article in our local National Beekeepers Association journal, The New Zealand Beekeeper of a control method they are using in Australia.We beekeepers need all the help we can get, and as I get so much useful information from this forum, I thought I should share this with all of you.
If it works it could be an effective method of controlling SHB.
The method is to use Chux disposal multi purpose kitchen cloths. I am sure if you don't have Chux that you will have a similar product in your hardware stores or supermarkets.
Place the fresh cloth across the top of the frames of the top honey super every couple of weeks, when new supers are put on to replace the ones taken off for extraction. The bees do not like the cloth and try to take them apart and out of the hive and in the process they make them fluffy.
The beetles move up to the top of the hive to get away from the light and the bees and get caught in cloth, where they either die from starvation or the bees get hold of them and dispatch them.
I know that the Northern Hemisphere is just coming out of winter but this may be helpful in a couple of months time
Copyright:NZ NBA Nov 2012
 
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#11 ·
The method is to use Chux disposal multi purpose kitchen cloths. I am sure if you don't have Chux that you will have a similar product in your hardware stores or supermarkets.
All: a chux wipe is just the brand name for handi-wipes in Australia and New Zealand. Same manufacturer and look the same, although what they call a "heavy duty" wipe looks more like the regular strength handi-wipe we use in the states/Canada.

I have a terrible problem with SHB here in VA and just put some in my hives and will let you know how they work.
 
#13 ·
I forgot to reply to this thread. I went ahead and tried the wipes. The end result: piles of blue and white fluff blowing across my yard. The bees in my hives disposed of them in a few days. I used the normal strength handi-wipes and perhaps the heavy duty ones would have worked better. In the meantime, I've switched my hives to oil traps under the bottom board and by and that's working to keep the beetles at bay. Green beehives sells one version called the IPK and then there is the Freeman trap. I use the Green beehives trap.
 
#15 ·
We just got an e-mail from someone in our beekeepers' association, via the Piedmont Beekeeper's Newsletter. They just laid one over the top bars at the top of the hive. They've tried Scotch-brand Handi-wipes and show a photo of a SHB death zone. They say the Clorox brand won't do the same thing. Looks like some kind of tanglefoot effect, to me. If my other SHB measures fail to work, I'll try this and see. If they're getting tangled in it I should be able to document this with a microscopic examination.
 
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