This past Thursday I checked/cleaned all of my trays for SHB and moths. In my yard, none of the oil trays (most are dry) had more than a few SHBs. They have way more shade than I prefer. Then I went to my out apiary to add a super. When I opened the tray (it was dry) there was at minimum 400 of them. Normally I just start killing them with my hive tool and fingers. Way to many for that so I opened my smoker can and dumped them and closed the lid and then started killing hundreds on the ground and they were all over me on my arms and neck. I later added acetone to the can to kill them without using any poisons.
What is so strange about this is that this hive has full sun and is on an old cement slab dog kennel. I rarely even see SHB in this hive. When I took the STB off to add the sixth medium super, there was only one SHB in the top of the hive, this is where I see most of the SHBs in my hives. This is a massive hive that on a weight test, I can barely lift the back of the hive with 2 hands, finger tips only.
This was completely reverse of what I normally find in my hives.
I haven't done it yet but I will bee adding oil to that tray.
Jim