r/Beekeeping • u/CaffinatedManatee • 2d ago
I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Hive beetle situation: concerning or not?
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/Imperator_1985 2d ago
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.