[Crabo]

We have segregated a group of 32 hives that are full of beatles. We've had Swiffer Strips in there but are making no progress. They l stayed in North Dakota till November 10. These hives are now in East Texas.

Does any one have any suggestions on how to get rid of these critters?

Thank you

 

[JWPalmer]

In a healthy hive, the beetles tend to stay on the outer frames.You can reduce the number of beetles by pulling these frames and knocking the beetles out of the comb onto the lid of an adjacent hive. Then get to work with the hive tool smashing them. Any bees on the frames should fly off, but accidentally killing a few is worth it to get rid of a large number of the SHB's. Then put in a beetle blaster trap with either vegetable oil or diatomaceous earth (DE). Dont knock the frames so hard that you break the comb in wax foundation and foundationless frames. Plastic is pretty safe. I had a few hives that got really bad this fall too.

 

[AR1]

2 years ago I had some success with pulling frames and putting them one by one into a new box. Check each frame and flick beetles into old box, then put the frame into the new box. Then squash the beetles in the old box. It was kind of fun, and the bees really attack the piles of beetles. The beetles love the plastic frames which have lots of slots just the right size for them. I filled the slots and that maybe helped some.

I suppose it is disruptive to the hive and risks squashing a queen, but I had no noticeable troubles. Wouldn't want to do this if I had more than a few hives though. This year had very few beetles and didn't do anything other than squash them at random.

 

[Akademee]

Condense down the hive if you can. Beetles take over when they are allowed to reproduce and grow in a corner of the hive the bees do not patrol. You can use all the swiffers and beetle blasters you want, and I would, but also reduce the size of the hive and increase the density of the bees. You will probably always have some beetles, since the beetles have ways of tricking bees into letting them in and even feeding them sometimes, but you can at least get overwhelming numbers under control.

 

[HTB]

And old ukrainian commercial beekeeper I know uses a small (2 x 3") piece of corrugated sign stock. Cuts a seam in one side down the middle, folds it back and open, lays a bead of Combat roach killer, closes it back up and tapes the seam. The beatles can crawl in the openings on the sides to get to the bait. He places it on top of the frames. I haven't tried it yet but he says it's cured his beatle problem.

 

[bjoynes]

Please do not use Combat Roach Killer MAX in your hive, or any pesticide which is not labeled for SHB. First and foremost it is illegal, and yes you can be fined by local agriculture departments, and possibly the EPA. Secondly, the active ingredient in this product is Fipronil, a Gaba receptor blocker, with incredible contact transfer characteristics. I own a pest control company, and know the effects of Fipronil, as well as the long term effects over a year later on honey bees.

Performing a perimeter treatment per the label, when I applied the product accidentally to a nested swarm behind some fake timber against a wall. A year later was called out to the same property by the owner saying that a swarm had nested in the same location as the previous years swarm. I grabbed some bee equipment to capture this swarm, only to arrive and find the majority of the bees in neurological shock on the ground dying. Have seen similar results on treatment of Carpenter Bees.