SHB larva on ground, attacked by ants?

1227 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by tanksbees, Jul 10, 2014

tanksbees

Discussion Starter · Jul 9, 2014

3rd year beekeeper, have not seen any SHB in my hives thus far which has surprised some others in my area.

Yesterday I saw a small larva crawling on the concrete under my hive, covered in sugar ants, it was too small to be wax moth. My hives are on a large concrete slab, I'm thinking it was SHB, I assume it is hard for the SHB to pupate without easy access to dirt. I have a big ant nest near the hive and use moats with water to keep the ants out of my hives.

Do you think it's possible the concrete and ants are killing off the SHB?

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Phoebee

· #2 · Jul 9, 2014

A few months back there was a poster from Florida who had one apiary on a sunny concrete pad, and several others that were not. He reported a MUCH lower SHB infestation in the hives on concrete.

It sounds reasonable. The larvae have to burrow to develop to adults, and they have to cross a lot of open concrete in his bee yard to do so. They are exposed to drying out and to predators like ants.

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rweaver7777

· #3 · Jul 9, 2014

What did the SHB larva eat while growing up? It slimed at least part of your hive. You need to check on this, because if too many get going, your bees will abscond. They don't like the slimed frames that SHB leave behind.

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garusher

· #4 · Jul 9, 2014

I am having the similar results, except i have a large piece of old carpet laid out, upside down. Initially to keep the grass and weeds down. No Beatles thus far.

G.

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tanksbees

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 9, 2014

I didn't see any slime in my hive or beetles when I went through it yesterday.

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beemandan

· #6 · Jul 10, 2014

As pointed out by an earlier poster, if you are seeing shb larvae on the ground near your hives......there is already a problem.
So either
A. It isn't an shb larvae
or
B. There's trouble in paradise.
Just my opinion.

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tanksbees

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 10, 2014

Like I said I didn't see any, but a friend gave me some beetle traps so I'll stick those in for good measure.

What kind of oil do you use and where do you put them? Bottom box? Or more than one per hive?

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