Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: SteveSC on October 18, 2006, 03:05:36 pm
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The SHB's larva needs to get to the soil to mature - it crawls out of the hive and on to the ground.
In the winter does the SHB's reproduction rate fall off dramatically...?
I believe I read that the life cycle of the SHB is about 26 days. If this is true and the larva has to mature in the ground it seems as though in a relatively cold winter the SHB would not survive at all.
I must be missing something because we should not have any SHBs in the spring unless they can hibernate and survive in the ground all winter. The adults would already be dead from old age by spring time..
Can someone explain how this works... Thanks.
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my guess is...nearlly all animals, at least insects tha reproduce throu different stages, can hybernate throu winter. i mean, just look at the bees, they don't hibernate, but still, winterbees live much much longer that season bees.
i'm almost sure larvae digs it's way into soil and hibernates. so do bumblebees and wasps and hornets
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I was wondering the same thing about mites since their life cycle is more or less tied to that of the bees.
I suppose the adult mites are able to overwinter on the bees.
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I understand that insects do indeed hibernate in the ground all winter. It seems a bit odd that a larvae could burrow in the ground below the frost line.
I wonder if you used the ground drench GardStar insecticide if that would break the reproductive cycle.. The larvae could not survive in the ground with the insecticide - - cycle broken...? I don't know but the SHB should be easier to control than the Varroa mite.
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adult SHB will live in the cluster all winter, I heard they live for 6-8 month's, they trick the bee's and the bee's will feed them...
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>>I understand that insects do indeed hibernate in the ground all winter. It seems a bit odd that a larvae could burrow in the ground below the frost line.
You've evidently never dug in a garden while frost was still on the ground. It's not uncommon to find several types of caccoons while doing so--all below the frost line.
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I have an apple cider vinegar trap in each hive for the SHB. Should I leave it over the winter? It's very satisfying to see all their drowned bodies in it (HEE< HEE<HEE) but I don't want to use up a frame. I could put it in the empty super where I am placing a feeding bottle for the bees.
Linda T in Atlanta
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"You've evidently never dug in a garden while frost was still on the ground. It's not uncommon to find several types of caccoons while doing so--all below the frost line."
I know that some insect do encapsulate themselves and thier eggs to survive the winter below the frost line. These SHB youngsters are larvae that aren't encapsulated and just burrow in the ground in order to mature.
I'll have to go with TwT on this one, " adult SHB will live in the cluster all winter, I heard they live for 6-8 month's, they trick the bee's and the bee's will feed them..."
I doubt very seriously that a SHB larvae is going to burrow below the frost in this red clay we have here.
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The SHB larvae must also develop somewhere other than burrowing in the ground. My hives are on my wooden deck, 15 feet above the ground. There is not dirt for them to "burrow" into yet I have hives with many, many SHBs - I saw at least 30 in each hive on my inspection this week. And that doesn't count the 30 or so bodies in each apple cider vinegar trap.
Linda T overwhelmed with SHB in Atlanta
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tillie a beekeeper in florida put his hives on tarps just to see what would happen, the SHB larva would crawl from the hive and sometimes crawl 25 feet to get off the tarp, the can travel .....he said one day he went out and looked and there must have been 100's crawling on the tarps.
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They can also FLY - often just when I get close with the hive tool with full intention of smashing them, they take off. Maybe they live in the ground 15 feet under my deck and fly up like Brownie Scouts to graduate to living in my hives!
Linda T in Atlanta
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Tillie, they say a SHB can fly seven miles in a single night to find a hive....
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That does it - I'm disgusted - I will now RELISH every one I find drowned in my apple cider vinegar!
Linda T
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Linda,
I live in NC and also battle the little devils. A bee producer in Ga suggested using those Combat bait stations for ants. They seem to help. I leave them in the back corner of the bottom board and they feed and die. The ports are too small for bees to enter. Also screened bottom boards with a oil coated catch board seems to help with all pests. LOL.
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I do not have SHB and have no real experience with them, beyond seeing some when I was in North Carolina, but many beekeepers who ARE dealing with them have reported they don't HAVE to pupate in the ground and they have seen them pupate in the hives.
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I do not have SHB and have no real experience with them, beyond seeing some when I was in North Carolina, but many beekeepers who ARE dealing with them have reported they don't HAVE to pupate in the ground and they have seen them pupate in the hives.
MB, do you have any facts on that? I heard a few people say that on beesource and then I ask other people and they say they are full of bull, If the shb could pupate in the hive someone would have taken a pic of it by now or some documentation's.... it may be true but I dont believe that because the university of Georgia has hundreds of hive's that they use to study SHB and they have never posted anything like that, they still say they pupate in the ground......
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>MB, do you have any facts on that?
Facts? No. But the I have heard the observation from quite a few beekeepers now.
>it may be true but I dont believe that because the university of Georgia has hundreds of hive's that they use to study SHB and they have never posted anything like that, they still say they pupate in the ground......
But they are in Georgia. Maybe the beetles only do it in Northern climates?
I would like to see more research on the issue since I figure they will get here eventually.
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Maybe the beetles only do it in Northern climates?
you got a point there MB..
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Sounds like this is a nasty creature for sure. We don't have this insect up in B.C. (Yet). There was an isolated incidence in Alberta, but I think that the problem was eradicated pretty quickly. I read ona forum post that a fellow in a southern state university was doing research on this SHB using two types of nematodes and that information might be published this spring. That is all that I know. We use predatory nematodes of one species in our gardens here in the late spring. We purchase these little critters from a local seed site, Westcoast Seeds, to be specific and they come in a little sponge that one mixes with water, sprays the ground with the concoction during the evening or on a rainy day. If it is not a rainy day, it is recommended to water these nematodes into the ground thoroughly. I do know that they do wonders to combat many different types of insects, of course particularly the underground cut worms, maggots, etc., I believe they even help to keep at bay the ones above ground, like the Imported Cabbage Moth, which is a huge issue around here with the leafy vegies and others. These organisms occur naturally in the soil, but when they are introduced in huge numbers they work miracles. I have my doubts that the nematodes woudl work against the SHB, from what I am hearing, because the SHB is so transient, I read that they can fly 50 miles, Yikes!!! I wonder how far they could fly if they took a break every 50 miles or so (LOL). Anyways we are fortunate that we don't have this creepy nasty slimy thing up here and I am grateful for that. Cindi
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I'm at the beach for Thanksgiving so I can't post to Photobucket, but here's a picture of a friendly SHB making friends with one of my bees. I'll put the pic directly in this post when I'm back in Atlanta:
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k288/tillielin/DSC02124.jpg)
Linda T back in Atlanta with bees and SHBs
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SHB still a problem at this time of year for Central NC.
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I feel do to the mild winters in the south we have a lot more issues with the shb. I hate shb with a passion.
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OK, looking at Linda's picture of the SHB sipping some honey alongside the bee perplexes me. Why doesn't the bee exterminate the beetle. Surely the bees must know the beetle is an invader. Anyone got a good comment on this? Great day. Cindi
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Actually some of what I read says that the bees often feed the SHBs. I have found piles of them propolized in between the edges of frames in my hives, but never have seen a bee bee-ing friendly until this picture (and it was an accident - a small part of a much larger picture I was taking of bees on the frame.) The cider vinegar trap I am using worked well during the hot weather. Haven't checked it in a couple of months.
Linda T in Atlanta
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Linda, what they hey!!! Now that is the weirdest thing that I have ever heard. Why on earth would the bee feed a SHB, doesn't make much sense now does it?
It looks like the SHB is small, wonder why the bees would not just carry it outside instead of spending the energy to propolize? Strange eh? Great day. Cindi
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I Hope those Critters don't make it to california
kirk-o
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wonder why the bees would not just carry it outside instead of spending the energy to propolize? Strange eh? Great day. Cindi
The bug gets into the cracks and the bees fill in the cracks that they were going to fill anyway.
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I Hope those Critters don't make it to California
kirk-o
I have heard they are in California, they have been for a few years now, odds are they could have got there from the migratory for the almonds,,, that's the story!!!
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Perhaps they do die in the winter in your area, and re-populate from the south as the weather warms up in spring. they just follow the good weather north like senior citizens!
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Because it's cold, I haven't been opening my hives, but yesterday I could see liquid on the ground under the hive that has a sugar water feeder inside it, so I opened the hive to take out the feeder and see what gives. I have a bottle with holes in the lid upside down on the frames just over the cluster.
When I pulled out the bottle there were five happy as a clam SHBs all over it. I haven't checked the traps in at least a month and now am worried that my hives are full of SHBs but don't want to open the hives to check the apple cider vinegar traps while it's cold.
Should I? :?
I'm thinking next weekend if we have an Atlanta warm spell, I'll pull out the apple cider vinegar traps and refresh the vinegar. These critters are amazingly endurable - and mine certainly are not living in the ground through the winter - they are thriving in my hives.
Linda T in Atlanta
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I don't feel that the small hive beetle is a threat this time of year to my bee colonies. Its too cold and the humidity is too low. Even if we did have some shb larvae emerge within the hive the bees would kill it and dispose of it. People, your problem this time of year is the varroa mite. This mite weakens the colony making way for the shb ( when the temperature & humidity rise) to take over the hive. Again this is no threat to my beekeeping operation as I have a vinegar vaporizer that I can use to take care of both beetle and mite Charlie