[tjtll]

I installed 2 packages in mid April, one TBH and one lang. I've been fighting with SHB since day one. They must have come with them. I thought the TBH was doing great. I couldn't see any larvae damage and only a couple of beetles now and then. That is until the bees left. Now I have only the lang and it is struggling. Is it too late to order a new package or nuc?

 

[devdog108]

You may call Skinner....he may have some and he is not too far from you. Why is the lang struggling?

 

[fish_stix]

Before you install another package search for info on this website about combatting SHB. In the Deep Southeast if you don't actively control beetles you will lose your hives. SHB don't have to come with the packages, they are present everywhere in the SE. They fly in and make themselves at home. Many on this forum will tell you that a strong hive will keep them down. I've not found this to be the case. They'll infest the strongest hive you own and in a couple weeks that hive will abscond and the SHB larva will finish off the combs. Down here in East Central FL we say that we have 2 types of beetles: 2 day beetles and 3 day beetles; that's how long it takes to have adult beetles in a new hive. With no controls, we can have 100's of them in a weeks time.

 

[tjtll]

I am not sure why the lang is struggling, other than dealing with the beetles. I am wondering if the queen is not doing well. I don't see a lot of brood and they don't seem to be in a well organized pattern