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Author Topic: SHB remedy?? your opinions please  (Read 5971 times)

Offline Harpo

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SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« on: January 07, 2012, 10:30:47 am »
Hi Guys,

I found a few beetles in my 8 frame hive... wasn't sure if they were till I googled some photos and sure enough I've got them  :-x

I don't have an oil trap in that hive so I will have to get on pronto BUT in my googling I came across a video on utube which amazed me so I'm going to share it and ask for your feedback...

Sugar Dusting for Hive Beetles.mpg

Now I'm not sue what type of base box he has because I'm not sure hwere he's sticking his pan??? Could a normal box be adapted I wonder???

Offline Harpo

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2012, 10:40:12 am »
Also... has anybody given this trap a go???

http://www.beetltra.com.au/beetltra.php

Thanks guys  ;)

Offline AllenF

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2012, 11:06:57 am »
I have a whole mess of those Freeman oil trays that I use in the summer.    I place them under my screened bottoms.   But I never have used the powdered sugar on the bees to drive the beetles down.   I use lots of smoke.   The sugar would cake up the oil IMO.   They also catch the worms before they make it to the soil also.   

Offline ShaneJ

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2012, 09:44:25 pm »
Harpo, that video is of Jerry Freeman. He has one of his SBB oil traps on the bottom of that hive.

I have the freeman beetle traps on all my hives and they work great. You do need a strong hive for them to be successful though. More information here: http://freemanbeetletrap.com/
Shane

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2012, 10:33:22 pm »
I built screen bottom boards and made a tray out of galvanized metal. I definitely kill thousands of SHB with them. That is the first time I have seen this video and will have to try it.
Did you notice that the second he brushed his bees they immediately stung him. I haven't used a brush since I first time I used one to remove honey and they got real aggressive and stayed that way for the next 3 weeks.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline ShaneJ

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2012, 11:08:07 pm »
You guys should do some searching on these forums about the sugar dusting before you try it. Some people have had problems after doing it.
Shane

Offline Harpo

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2012, 07:28:25 am »
Hey ShaneJ,

I'll have to get my hubby to work some magic as all my base boxes are fixed - I showed him the BEETLETRAPwhere you cut out a lines and add an oilpan below on a runner ... it will be fiddly and time consuming but once it's fitted you don't have to open the hive to get at it... since I just looked at what they can do to my hives I'd rather have some preventary measures in place!!!

I've had them for nearly 2yrs and have only had the odd beetle... the hive I extracted from today is 2yrs old, super strong and has only had the odd beetle - it's doing well ( hope it stays that way ) checked the brood box and looking great  ;) BTW 22 litres of liquid gold... I'm thrilled  :-D

Offline the-ecohouse.com

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2012, 08:39:14 am »
check out the small hive beetle trap post further down the page...dont bother with powdered dusting, that really only works with varoaa mite, which we are lucky enough to not have here currently. other than that it makes a hell of a mess.

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2012, 08:07:49 pm »
I built screen bottom boards and made a tray out of galvanized metal. I definitely kill thousands of SHB with them. That is the first time I have seen this video and will have to try it.
Did you notice that the second he brushed his bees they immediately stung him. I haven't used a brush since I first time I used one to remove honey and they got real aggressive and stayed that way for the next 3 weeks.
Jim
Jim, which size mesh are you using?  #8 looks to small, #6 lets bees through...#7 is apparently mythical and is packed in the saddlebags of a unicorn somewhere in Strawberry Shortcake Land....???

The bee brush... It looked like he swept the bees rather than "flicking" the bees.  Rolling the bees is reported to give them a bad hair day.  The guy *seemed* pretty comfortable with the bees to start with...guess he pushed the envelope too much. ???

Thanks,
Ed
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American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

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Offline ShaneJ

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2012, 05:16:13 am »
Its the sugar that gets the bees upset, not so much the brush. The idea of the sugar if I understand correctly is to get the bees in a frenzy to chase the beetles down into the trap.
Shane

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2012, 12:43:04 pm »
Jim, which size mesh are you using?  #8 looks to small, #6 lets bees through...#7 is apparently mythical and is packed in the saddlebags of a unicorn somewhere in Strawberry Shortcake Land....???

The bee brush... It looked like he swept the bees rather than "flicking" the bees.  Rolling the bees is reported to give them a bad hair day.  The guy *seemed* pretty comfortable with the bees to start with...guess he pushed the envelope too much. ???

Thanks,
Ed
I use # 8 mesh. I went to several hardware stores, in 3 different counties, this weekend and could not find any. I will probably will go on the internet to get it. I would love to find that #7 is mythical mesh. Might exist as a metric mesh.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2012, 02:46:14 pm »
Kelly's used to list the #7 mesh as being available...but in 100' rolls at $350.00 per roll.  :roll:  It's listed as out of stock, now.  I've been thinking of trying to double up 1/4" mesh so that 1/8"x1/4" openings are formed.  Probably couldn't get a consistent overlap, though.

Ed
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American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline Sundog

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2012, 09:06:59 pm »
I think #8 mesh works just fine.  Elevate your SBB and cover a Brownie pan with mesh so the bees won't fall in, put a bit of water with a couple of drops of dish soap to break the surface tension, and slide it underneath.  You will catch all kinds of things.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab218/Sunchaser01/Bee%20Stuff/DSCN0395.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab218/Sunchaser01/DSCN0717.jpg

Have fun!


Offline Grieth

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Re: SHB remedy?? your opinions please
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2012, 07:13:54 am »
Instead of an inner cover, get a piece of cheap flooring vinyl (like you use in kitchens) and cut it so there is a 3/4inch gap all around when you sit it on top of the frames in the top super (we call it a hive mat).  Make sure the vinyl is the type with the thin felt-like backing, with the felt side down on the frame tops.

Bees case beetles.  Beetles run and hide in nylon felt.  Beetle legs have barbs.  Beetles get caught in felt.  When beetles caught, move mat to freezer for couple of days.  Frozen beetles dead.  Bees happy.  Bee keeper happy.  No messy oil.  No chemicals.

Good luck
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