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Author Topic: AJ's Beetle Eater  (Read 15502 times)

Offline sc-bee

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AJ's Beetle Eater
« on: May 18, 2008, 10:50:59 pm »
Took out the AJ's trap yesterday. It had been in for about a week. There were 99 dead SHB in the trap. It was placed in a five frame nuc w/about three frames in the NUC. The NUC still had a fair number of shb but glad to get rid of that 99! The bees had alot corralled under the cover and I squished what I could.

One thing about the trap that alot of people fail to hear is you need to cover it with a piece of vinyl floor covering etc after installing it. The beetles like to hide under the floor covering as the bees attempt to corral them and this increase the likelihood of them falling in the trap. Also some say it collects warmth and attracts them.

The first AJ I installed I did not cover it and after a week the count was 0 !!! (A different hive it was a full ten frame). The results are above for the covered trap.

The verdict is still out but I like the convenience compared to other traps. I don't like the filling of the trap it will take some getting used to. Right now I use a syringe. I wish it were deeper and divided into three sections like the hood trap. That way you could try some bait w/ the trap. The last ones I got were a little hard to snap together.  I believe the location of installation of the trap makes it alot better option than some traps (as the bees scurry around on top of the frames).

I think it is a bit pricey for what you get but then what is 5 bucks if it works long enough for a hive to get strong enough to defend itself (and we all know about the price of things these days and the cost of making them)! I imagine the major mark up's not on AJ's end!!!


John 3:16

Offline tillie

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2008, 10:56:55 pm »
I have three of them but haven't tried them yet (haven't seen SHB yet this year).  I plan to use them and wish I didn't have to come up with the vinyl to cover them - what a pain!  I hate that covering part a whole lot more than the $5  :evil:

I also have bought an aspirator to suck them up into a jar.  It was recommended to me by a man who posts on this forum - I believe he may have posted about it.  Anyway, I'm hoping that when the little creatures show up, the AJ's trap will get many of them and I'll aspirate the rest.  I'm not going to use the Hood trap this year because I hate to take up a whole frame with that trap.

Linda T in Atlanta

Offline HAB

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2008, 11:03:20 pm »
Linda T
How did the sandwich container trap you made compare to the AJ Trap.

Offline tillie

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2008, 11:19:53 pm »
The sandwich trap container worked OK - everything I have tried for the SHB works "OK" but while I'll see beetles in whatever trap I use, there are still just as many in the hive.  At Young Harris this past weekend, one of the speakers said that if you use a lure like the one in the sandwich trap, it actually attracts SHB to the hive.  Don't know if that is the truth (you know how if you ask ten beekeepers a question you'll get 12 different answers), but it makes me cautious.

I'm interested in this mouth aspirator.... :roll: :roll:  But so far this year, I haven't seen any beetles.  Maybe I'm just lucky so far - everybody at Young Harris was talking about the beetles in their hives.  Mine actually had beetles in them at the end of the winter, but as they have built up the beetles have disappeared.

Linda T in Atlanta

Offline sc-bee

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2008, 11:22:15 pm »
I knew a guy who said he used a little vacuum like you use on a computer keyboard??? He had a jar lid rigged for them to hide under, when he inspected he moved the lid and vacuumed.
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Offline HAB

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2008, 11:52:23 pm »
By mouth aspirator are you talking about the kind of aspirator used with Babies? :)

Offline tillie

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2008, 12:28:31 am »

Offline malabarchillin

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Tillie concerning plastic covering
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2008, 05:35:54 pm »
I have just started using Aj's beetle eaters and I just cut some plastic bags that water softner
salt come in. I think that heavy visqueen or a  heavy freezer bag would work too.  I think I will work and it peels up fairly easy after the bees glue it down. I have only seen a couple of beetles in the traps (3) but I do not have a SHB problem at the moment. The traps are a bit of a pain to remove for inspection because the bees 'glue' them in pretty well and I wear gloves. I am considering gluing the tops on the traps because  they pop off while trying to remove the traps. Has anyone glued the tops on ?
Regards
Mike

Offline sc-bee

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2008, 11:36:36 pm »
Haven't glued them on ---- what would you do , throw the trap away because you can't clean it out?
It is a pain I had one pop open today trying to remove it.  I Have to do away w/the gloves when handling them
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Offline malabarchillin

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2008, 08:11:03 am »
I was wondering if I could just flush the beetles out with the top glued on and
perhaps enlarge a slot in it a 'little' to fill it easier. It seems a little tweaking in the
design of the top with a funnel shaped hole would have made filling easier. If the top
is glued down then it could be altered somewhat without becoming fragile.   

Offline Fannbee

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2008, 09:56:30 am »
Do not worry about worry about a trap luring more beetles,  your hive is what attracts beetles.  I
Chuck and Fran

Offline malabarchillin

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2008, 06:55:51 pm »
I think that if we wire/tie wrap etc the top to the bottom in 3 places it would be much easier to
remove both pieces of the traps together and still allow it to be disassembled for cleaning.

Offline tillie

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2008, 08:49:12 pm »
You mean like with a twist tie?

Linda T in Atlanta

Offline malabarchillin

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2008, 08:54:40 pm »
Yes, I just put 3 bread ties on one of my traps a few minutes ago. I do not know how long it would take for them to rust. I may find some light stainless steel wire or just replace the ties every time.

Offline mgmoore7

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2008, 10:09:55 am »
Are yall putting the AJ trap on top of the brood box or on top of supers?

Offline wayseer

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #15 on: May 31, 2008, 07:54:30 pm »
Mine go on the top super and I place a piece of lino over the trap.  I use rubber bands to keep the trap together.
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Offline tlynn

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #16 on: August 07, 2008, 09:05:06 pm »
Are yall putting the AJ trap on top of the brood box or on top of supers?

I have one in the brood box and one in top super.  The one in the brood box has been catching 20-30 every week and the one in the super maybe 3 or 4, which I can't figure out, because whenever I pop the lid it seems like I always find 6 or 8 corralled in the corner which I can usually crunch most of them.  So I would think I should be finding more in the top trap.  I suppose there is the surprise factor when I remove the lid and they have time to hide by the time I get to the brood box.

Offline reinbeau

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #17 on: August 07, 2008, 10:35:42 pm »
Mine go on the top super and I place a piece of lino over the trap.  I use rubber bands to keep the trap together.

Why do you need rubber bands?  They snap together (at least the ones we have do).

Offline sc-bee

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2008, 12:38:37 am »
Some folks have complained about them coming apart while doing an inspection> I have not had that problem. My problem is filing tham and keeping them level to return to the hive.

Some folks suggest place on bar and use an oil can. Another guy on another forum suggest getting one of these syringes w/ a curved end.
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Offline reinbeau

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Re: AJ's Beetle Eater
« Reply #19 on: August 08, 2008, 08:12:34 am »
I can see that you definitely need to get beneath the trap to pry it out for inspection, that top comes off way too easily.  As for filling them, I used a cut in half plastic water bottle, it's flexible enough to squeeze into a fine spout.

We're using cheap vegetable oil, not FGMO.