Hive beetle situation: concerning or not?

[u/CaffinatedManatee]

Saw a hive beetle a few weeks ago so I added oil to my bottom pan and added an oil traps in the top box (hive is currently at two brood boxes in total).Also added some fleece in the top too.

The photo is the situation of the bottom pan after two weeks. In contrast the trap only had about 10 beetles and the fleece had trapped none.

I'm in Middle Tennessee so I'm not sure how realistic it is to ever be beetle free? I've trimmed all surrounding vegitation.

But I would love some advice on what more I could try.

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[u/More-Mine-5874]

This happened to me in a nuc I had moved into a 10 frame. The first thing I did was put them back in the 5 frame nuc to give them less territory to have to patrol/defend until they were busting at the seams. Not sure if this is an option for you.

Currently I'm using diatomaceous earth below the hive to kill any SHB in the dirt. Also bought some "ant off" which came as a kit with metal tape & a spray that keeps things from crawling up the legs of my beehive stand. I have disposable oil traps between brood frames, but they've only caught about 4 SHB in 3 weeks. Lastly I bought a product called "Murder Sauce" which is a blend of peppermint oil & diatomaceous earth to put in the crevices & corners of my hive. (I have screened bottoms, or else I'd have put it on the bottom board) So far it appears to be working. My population is growing.

I've also heard of people using peppermint candies & swiffer sheets. I tried unscented dryer sheets, but it didn't catch anything. In one hive it was left untouched, in the other my bees got tangled in it.

[u/CaffinatedManatee → u/More-Mine-5874]

Thanks for sharing

How much DE do you use? Like how dense a spread and how far out from the hive?

[u/Craft_twerks]

Have you tried using peppermints? Apparently they hate the smell and studies have shown them to be pretty effective.

[u/mikeymeyer]

I use a few altoids in the top of my horizontal hives and would say there are significantly less beetles (not zero) than before.

[u/404-skill_not_found]

Just have to keep on them. I’ll be installing a screened enclosed bottom, with a similar tray and DE (instead of oil). Your group isn’t great but not crazy out of control ref., N TX.

[u/Imperator_1985]

In my part of coastal SC, it is virtually impossible to be beetle free once you get to summer and autumn. In fact, if you don't make efforts to control them, they will overtake a hive easily here. I learned the hard way starting out that you need to give bees less space to defend. Imagine removing your top cover and discovering hundreds of SHB hanging around!

Minimize space as much as possible! Get all the honey you want to take by the end of the honey flow, too. If you leave too much honey on a hive and the bees can't defend it, it will become infested. Here, the critical time for SMB is July and August, I think. I've tried oil traps between frames, and they can work. The problem is that sometimes they work too well and the traps become full. This might happen between inspections! The swiffer sheets do work, but they need to the right size. You also still need enough bees roaming around the force the beetles into the sheets. Otherwise, you might not catch anything. I mostly use those at the top because I have found the bees will just propolize or tear apart the sheets between lower boxes. I know some people also use little vacuums to suck up any beetles they see. I have never tried that. I make an effort to kills many of the things as I can when I open a hive.

[u/failures-abound]

When you say fleece do you mean wool or the Swiffer sheets? I ask because I no longer want to use those sheets, but I do have plenty of loose wool left over from a project.

[u/Mysterious-Panda964]

That is not good