Ok I have 2 new hives. Both have FSBT on them... I installed my bees Monday.... today I pulled out the oil tray just to look and there layed 20 or 30 dead bees...... I don't see any possible way they could have go in there..... Anyone have a guess?
I've got 6 of them. They all kill a few bees every now and then, but if you make sure there are no bees on the underside of the SBB
and you make sure the tray is pushed TIGHT againest the front of the hive, it will rarely catch bees. Another hint, I've found that they work just as well with about half the oil. I fill them with enough that there is oil in every trough, but not enough oil to cover the troughs. This allows you more space if it rains and water starts to fill the tray. It's also much easier to remove the tray when it's half full. It's still pretty cool for SHB, I haven't filled mine with oil yet, I usually wait till I see the first one. I've tried soapy water, not very effective againest SHB. They simply crawl out, they also crawl out with oil on them but it kills them anyway, but soapy water will kill a ton of ants and roaches.
Another thing I do is pull one, clean it and fill it get it ready to install, pull the next and replace it with the clean one instantly. That way bees don't have time to get on bottom side of the SBB. The only one I have to be carefull about is the first one as it was out the entire time I was cleaning the other traps.
