Darling Downs SHB?

[weedyau]

Hi, I'm looking at getting some hives again after a 25 year break. Does anyone know if small hive beetles are causing problems around Toowoomba or the Downs? Thankyou Bruce

[Lone]

Yes!

http://www.australianews.com.au/australia/queensland/darlingdowns/toowoomba/story?cityid=9901bdf5-f527-4b68-852d-149172949fd4&storyid=47afee4f-ed1d-480e-bc8e-535fb7760434

Get traps and read up.  They are a huge problem in Brissie from what folk say here; maybe being inland with not so much humidity will help control them like it does for us, so ask your beekeeping neighbours how much of a problem they are.  And inspect frequently at first till you know - they can ravage a hive in a few days.  Freeze spare honey frames and don't leave too much unprotected honey in a hive.

Congratulations on starting up again, we'd like to know how you get along.

Lone

[gregted]

I've got beetles in my hive at Gowrie Junction but just bought some traps so I hope they help.

Ill be splitting this hive in about 6 hours so I'll set the traps and see how they go.

Hope u enjoy getting back into your bees. I too have had a break of several years but plan on getting serious this year.

[Michael Bush]

Sandy soil, high humidity and mild winters seem to make them worse.  Clay soil, low humidity and cold winters seem to make them much less of a problem.

[annette]

Sandy soil, high humidity and mild winters seem to make them worse.  Clay soil, low humidity and cold winters seem to make them much less of a problem.

Thats good to know as that sounds like Placerville - clay soil, low humidity and cold winters. No sign of them here yet, but I hear they are coming.

[gregted]

Split my one hive yesterday and found lots of beetle despite having a trap in there. Also found no larvae or eggs so i hope this is not because of the beetle.

The trap in my hive had been inserted by someone else and had some white powder in the bottom but I have been told to just put cooking oil in the bottom and cover the top of the frames with lino or thin board because the bees chase the beetles into dark areas and they drown in the oil.

I'll open them in a week and let you know how effective the oil is.

[Lone]

Hello Greg,

Probably the white powder is diatomaceous earth which is just as effective as drowning them in oil.  Just make sure it doesn't spill out onto the bees.  I was advised to add apple cider vinegar when using oil in the traps to attract the beetle, though it might not matter.  With the SHB problem where you are you might need to try a combination of methods, e.g. top traps and bottom traps, permethrin, sealing up gaps, checking regularly to make sure they haven't got to the larval stage, making sure there are enough bees to protect the frames.  Think of them as another exciting challenge.

Lone

[gregted]

I thought the powder might be some type of poison.

It can't be that effective though, my hive was chockers with beetle.

I did hear about adding something to the oil and will try that too next time I look.

[Lone]

Hello Greg,

It does sound as though your hive is in danger of SHB attack with the amounts of beetles you've seen.  Eggs hatch within 1-6 days, so you might not notice the larvae in time.  The larvae eat both honey and brood and leave a big mess. If your numbers are depleted due to splitting the hive, possible swarming and lack of brood, I'd suggest that maybe you should transfer the main hive frames to a nuc size so the frames are more protected.  This will mean you can clean up the SHB as you go, too, so they have a fresh home.  This is provided you have a spare nuc box.  You would have to toss up whether it's safe to disturb them again so soon though with a possible new queen.  One change the beeks round here made since the SHB visited is to keep honey frames off the unguarded wall, and keep the plain foundation there which the SHB don't touch.  When the bees have the numbers to work on it they will be strong enough to protect it.  Of course, I can't see your hive, so you know if it is a healthy looking size which you could leave alone.

You can find information about diatomaceous earth on the beemaster forum.  You have to get the correct variety, which you probably would find out about at a bee gear supplier.  There are thin traps you can get which slide in under the frames.  You could make your own out of CD cases but I haven't tried this to make sure the SHB can't crawl out again to spread the diatomaceous earth around.  You will never catch every beetle.  I reckon putting a top cover on can be a haven for the beetle rather than a trap and the beek who had hives here has stopped putting anything on the frames except the traps.  The SHB problem is not so great here I think because they can't pupate in rocks, but I have had a hive to the stage of having masses of grey goopy larvae before we realised SHB was in the area.

These are just suggestions..maybe a local there could help you inspect it.

By the way, have you thought about asking locals whether they would split hives for you as a way of building up numbers?  If you have the nuc boxes then usually this is not too hard for an established beek.

Lone

[gregted]

Good idea. I will see how the girls are in a week and if they haven't done much in the original hive,  transfer the remaining frames from hive 1 to a nuc.

[westmar]

hi
    i have a out yard at kogan the hive beetle are bad there,i had complet slim outs there with weak hives.i went from 8fr deep brood box's to 8fr double brood box's helped having strong hives.plus with my lids if you us migration lids with the grids in for air vent.i put fly mess over them stop beetle getting in.any weak hives come home to westmar were the beetle not so bad.i heard were some bee ks taken bees to the coast for winter have lost allot hives to beetle.said they were better of feeding them at home.

[gregted]

Wondering if shb has natural preditor. Apart from beeks I mean.

Anybody got a home recipe for beetle traps?

[Lone]

Yes, the cane toad   



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[gregted]

Mate of mine years ago was losing bees and couldn't work out how.
Heard a noise one night and turned on floodlight.
There were s group of cane toads hanging around in front of his bee hive and they were taking turns bumping into the box.
The bees would come out onto the landing platform and the toads would gobble them up.
He wouldn't have believed it if he didn't see it himself.

Don't think I will use cane toads to take care of my shb.

[Michael Bush]

Go to a top entrance so they don't eat the bees, and a closed up bottom and IF they get out the cane toads can eat the larvae.  I wonder if they will find their way out the top?

[BlueBee]

I wonder if Bill Gates keeps bees?

You may have heard one of his solutions for reducing malaria was to program a small laser to identify mosquitoes and zap them one by one before they bite a person.  If that can be done for mosquitoes, can’t some creative bee keeper adapt a similar system for small hive beetles and wax moths?

It would seem to me that detecting and zapping beetles and moths would be a lot simpler than zapping small mosquitoes?

When I watch the discovery channel, it appears that visual detection systems are used in most manufacturing quality control systems.  If there is a bad egg, potato fry, or jellybean, they are easily rejected and ejected from the manufacturing process.  Can’t we do the same for SHB?

Please get such system perfected down under this season so it will be ready for us when spring arrives to the Northern Hemisphere

[Michael Bush]

I can just see the calibration get off and it starts zapping bees...

[Anybrew]

I have Apithor SHB baits in my 5 Hives and all I have found is the odd dead SHB. I know many people like the natural approach of control with traps but it is heart breaking to watch a hive become slime in a few days even when you have traps in them.

ps They are approved for use in Australia.

Cheers
Anybrew

[gregted]

Just wondering if boric acid works in corrugated plastic style traps, why can't I use it in the above frame snapon grid plastic traps instead of just oil?

[weedyau]

Hi Anybrew, how long do yourApithor SHB baits last?

[gregted]

Checked the Apithor site but they only sell 20 units at a time. I don't have that many hives. Yet.

Any other ideas or outlets where I can buy 1 or 2.

[Anybrew]

Hi, sorry about the late reply as I have been out of the Country.  They are supposed to last three months from what the field testing guy told me.

Cheers
Anybrew

[bernsad]

Checked the Apithor site but they only sell 20 units at a time. I don't have that many hives. Yet.

Any other ideas or outlets where I can buy 1 or 2.

Any other beeks around you that you can share with? Club members?

[Anybrew]

There are no Beek clubs this way, I bit the bullet and purchased a box of twenty at the National Field Day that was held here.  It has a shelf life of five years which is not to bad.

Cheers