SHB took down my hive in three days

[panpan]

Hi all. I'm new here, and new to beekeeping.

I established a hive from a cut out done back at the end of May. About 3 days ago I was doing a hive inspection and noticed 3-5 SHB. I made a note to make some traps and go back in the next day. Well between the 100+ temps and the holiday, the next day turned into three days. I went down to take care of them tonight and discovered that those 3-5 beetles were now hundreds of beetles, and that they completely destroyed the hive. There are only a handful of bees left. I am heartbroken, shocked and absolutely gobsmacked that they did such tremendous (and disgusting!) damage in such a short amount of time.

For those in the know, please help me know what I did wrong so that I never do this again. :(  And what do I do with my hive?? Those nasty things are still in there.

The hive backstory is such: it was in full sun. 3 boxes, all medium frames. The comb from the cut out had been attached with rubber bands, but in many areas it did not fill up the frame though the bees were building all over. The original Queen was lost during the cut out, but they made a new one and she had been laying just fine though their numbers were not very plentiful. I had been supplementing with sugar syrup as needed.

I'm thinking that I gave them too much comb to cover, with such few bees to take care of it?? I just don't know.

[LongWoods]

I would say that your thoughts related to population are exactly correct. As the heat rises and the humidity increases the SHB can reproduce at a very rapid rate. You need a hive packed with bees to keep them from winning the battle in hive beetle country.

I highly suggest that you immediately get those slimed frames in plastic bags and into a freezer. I have found that a minimum of 48 hours at -10 does a good job on SHB larvae and eggs. I do rinse everything down (before reusing) with water and bleach, then air dry for a bit.

You are not the first, or the last to lose a hive to SHB. I lost half of a start up yard last year to the nasty little @$#^%. Didn't lose a single hive in 11 other yards. Keep the population very strong (borderline swarm level) when the temps and humidity are high, add space slowly and you should be ok.

Good luck

[David McLeod]

I'll second the above post. With SHB it's all about strength and health of the colony fitted to absolutely the smallest volumetric defensible space for the number of bees available.
Cut out colonies or any other similarly stressed colony are particularly susceptible. SHB more than any of the other nasties we deal with have a sixth sense for vulnerable colonies.

[AllenF]

SHB can smell when something is wrong with a hive like queenless.   A hive in distress means a party for the beetles.   

[asprince]

All the above is excellent advise and cometary. My survival rate for cut outs is not very high. I have the most success when I use very little if any of the cut out comb. I usually combine them with a weak colony.


Good Luck with those nasty SHB's.


Steve

[AllenF]

If you are still wanting some bees, look up Don, "Fat Bee Man", with Dixie Bees.   He is down the road in Lula.  

[sc-bee]

I'll second the above post. With SHB it's all about strength and health of the colony fitted to absolutely the smallest volumetric defensible space for the number of bees available.
Cut out colonies or any other similarly stressed colony are particularly susceptible. SHB more than any of the other nasties we deal with have a sixth sense for vulnerable colonies.

I have even had a hive become vulnerable after they swarmed due to a lower population.

[David McLeod]

Almost all of my cut outs get banded into shallow frames (I am intending to switch over to mediums when I use up the last of my shallows) the bees get sucked into a deep (almost always holding empty foundationless frames) on the vac. On day three when I pull the vac parts and set it on it's own bottom board I pull the deep and leave them in the shallow only until they fully draw out the shallow. Only the largest of cutouts get another box at this point and then it is only another shallow or medium. No drawn comb either since the bees can't cover that many places for beetles to hide. Either foundationless or plain foundation or a mix of the two. I save my foundation for flow times only since I want them to draw it out rather than chew it out. I have found that foundationless has the advantage of safely sitting vacant until the bees actually need the space.
The cutout shallow eventually ends up on the bottom board below a deep in the way I like to stack my boxes.

[panpan]

This is all excellent info. It seems clear to me that I gave them way too much space to care for and in their already weakened state it was the perfect environment for an invasion. An incredibly sad and hard lesson to learn, but I'll know better when I begin again.

Thank you all so much for sharing your advice and insight. I really appreciate it.

[RHBee]

panpan- I live 30 miles from Charleston, SC. This is SHB ground zero. After what I just went thru I will never have any hives or nucs w/o a beetle trapping system in it again. Sorry you are having problems.

[asprince]

panpan- I live 30 miles from Charleston, SC. This is SHB ground zero. After what I just went thru I will never have any hives or nucs w/o a beetle trapping system in it again. Sorry you are having problems.

I beg to differ!!! Central Georgia is ground zero! :)