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This weekend I checked my hives and noticed that I had inadvertently left the "slide-in" insert under a screen bottom board on one hive. Where all the wax and house cleaning debris had fallen through the screen bottom and had accumulated on the insert, the Small Hive Beetles were in number. I even saw larvae crawling around in the debris. I quickly removed the insert under the screen and destroyed all the beetles and larvae that were on it. Lesson learned!
You see the bees can't get between the screen bottom and the insert to clean off the bottom board or police for small hive beetles as in a solid bottom hive...so it provides a place for SHBs to hide and do their thing. You may want to warn others about this and be aware of this yourself if you are not already.
Another lesson regardless of having screen bottoms or solid bottom boards is to clean off your bottom board from time to time to remove any debri that has collected there so as not to provide a place for SHBs to hide. However, in the case of screen bottoms, if you leave the insert in too long and debri accumulates there...it makes a place for SHBs to abide where the bees can't get to them.
You see the bees can't get between the screen bottom and the insert to clean off the bottom board or police for small hive beetles as in a solid bottom hive...so it provides a place for SHBs to hide and do their thing. You may want to warn others about this and be aware of this yourself if you are not already.
Another lesson regardless of having screen bottoms or solid bottom boards is to clean off your bottom board from time to time to remove any debri that has collected there so as not to provide a place for SHBs to hide. However, in the case of screen bottoms, if you leave the insert in too long and debri accumulates there...it makes a place for SHBs to abide where the bees can't get to them.