****roaches

I have seen a lot of this in my hives. Mine are not ****roaches, they are Wood Roaches. They are quite common in wooded areas. The difference is they don't breed out of control and take over a structure. I don't care to have them in the hives but my hives are next to timber. They don't seem to cause the bees any distress or do any harm.

Most of my hives have one or two. There is a very good treatment you can apply and it makes quite a impression on them.....

I've found one or two in some hives lately. They are very nice and run outside and hang on the outside of the box so I can squash them with ease.

Tim KS said:

I've found one or two in some hives lately. They are very nice and run outside and hang on the outside of the box so I can squash them with ease.

Click to expand...

x2.....G

I thought I was the only one experienceing this problem. I didn't want to say anything out of fear someone might think my girls are bad house keepers.

I usually only found one on the top of the inner cover. That was about 3 weeks ago. I smashed each one and haven't seen any for a while.

Its pretty common, in one of my yards in an old neighborhood near the ohio river. I find ****roaches under the top cover and also on the inspection board. Never though much of it, I kill them with a hive too. At my own house I've never seen a coackroach.

No ****roaches but I do have a topbar loaded with Pincher bugs. They seem to be living in harmony though. This hive was loaded with mites last year. No treatment an no noticeable mites this year, maybe the pincher bugs are keeping them at bay???? Probably not

I have been noticing a lot of earwigs under the top covers lately. If I knock one through the center hole of the inner cover, it's not long before it comes out the entrance in the jaws of a worker.

Treetrunk;

I had heard once that having earwigs in the hive was not a bad thing, and that they actually do help with parasites. Can't tell if it's true or not, but I have never killed once since, and I don't seem to have much problem with intruders.

I have a problem with roaches in my honey house - any ideas on how to control them? Obviously I cannot use insecticides.

Olympic;
Someone told me about an automatic roach killer. It consists of two blocks; one red, and one green. You place the roach on the red block, and you hit it with the green block. It automatically kills the roach. Just thought I would share that. Thinking of marketing them. :lookout:

olympic said:

I have a problem with roaches in my honey house - any ideas on how to control them? Obviously I cannot use insecticides.

Click to expand...

They sell boric acid powder for this. The bugs crawl through it, it scratches up their exoskeletons, and they eventually die. It is not toxic--it is actually an ingredient in eye drops. You can set up bait and circle it with the powder, or pour it along baseboards and anywhere you think they might be getting in. You'll probably see results in about a month. Some people also use diatemaceous earth, which works in a similar way. it's also non-toxic but you don't want to inhale the dust.

OK thanks!

Bee Whisperer said:

Olympic;
Someone told me about an automatic roach killer. It consists of two blocks; one red, and one green. You place the roach on the red block, and you hit it with the green block. It automatically kills the roach. Just thought I would share that. Thinking of marketing them. :lookout:

Click to expand...

Was told that was an Aggie roach killer.

olympic said:

I have a problem with roaches in my honey house - any ideas on how to control them? Obviously I cannot use insecticides.

Click to expand...

Sticky traps for mice, they catch all kinds of bugs.

Boric acid. If not, then borax.

Bee Whisperer said:

Treetrunk;

I had heard once that having earwigs in the hive was not a bad thing, and that they actually do help with parasites. Can't tell if it's true or not, but I have never killed once since, and I don't seem to have much problem with intruders.

Click to expand...

Seeing as earwigs eat decaying plant matter, I have a hard time seeing how they'd help with parasites. Maybe they run around the combs and pinch varroa off the bees.

Wood roaches also eat decaying wood. You folks with new hives shouldn't have much of a problem. When we tended some old hives for an orchard family, it was not uncommon to find 20 or more above the inner cover doing no harm to the colony.
Walt