Learned a little something

[Fishing-Nut]

I have a hive from a removal that I did moths ago that has been struggling with hive beetles. I have been trying to help them along the best I can but cant really seem to get ahead of these beetles.  I really want these bees to survive because they seem to have some good genetics.  They were a massive hive and had been in the wall of this old house for years and years thriving on their own.  I went in them a week or so ago on a rampage with a can of freeze spray. While I was ever so slowly searching around for those disgusting little #%#%! Hive beetles I found one of their hiding places that I never would have thought about. When I do removals I pop the foundation out of the frames so that I can rubber band comb inside them during the cutout.  I found DOZENS of those little suckers hiding in every one of the little slots that was available on the top underside of the frame where the foundation would normally be. I killed all of them and then packed them full of wax.  Hopefully this will help someone sometime...from now on I will fill those spaces before I get started on a removal.

[van from Arkansas]

Mr. Fish, I adore this post.  Killing hive beetles makes my day.  Mark one up for the bees, one down for hive beetles... YES.

That freeze spray is a hive saver for both of us. 
Van

[Ben Framed]

FN I hope you are able to save this hive. I lost one last year to SHB no fun. What I do when doing a cut out is place my cut combs in an empty frame via the rubber band method also, but, I always fill the slots with a wedge strip, cutting the combs to fit accordingly. The bees will attach the old comb to the wedges of frames also.
Phillip 

[Acebird]

That freeze spray is a hive saver for both of us. 
Van

/Does it kill them or anesthetize them?

[Bob Wilson]

Fish. Are you talking about the groove on the inside surface of your bee frames, the slot where the foundation slides in, if you use it?

[Oldbeavo]

Try Beetle Jails, they are a baited trap that attract the SHB. I have taken 180 in one go out of a Beetle Jail and 400 out of that hive over about 10 days.
They are working 24/7 when you are not there to spray.
We had a bad dose in 50 hives last season and put Beetle Jails in all hives and the group survived and went well after reducing the load.

[Fishing-Nut]

Fish. Are you talking about the groove on the inside surface of your bee frames, the slot where the foundation slides in, if you use it?

when you take the top of the hive off see your frames.....I'm talking about under the part you are looking at. I think it would be called the top bar of a frame. And yes sir, it is a little groove that the foundation would go in when being used. I couldn't believe how many beetles were tucked in there.

That freeze spray is a hive saver for both of us. 
Van

/Does it kill them or anesthetize them?

it killed them dead as a door nail. I still squish them though after they fall.

[The15thMember]

it killed them dead as a door nail. I still squish them though after they fall.

I believe a quote from Kate Dicamillo?s book The Tale of Despereaux applies here.  Kill em even if theys already dead. 

[van from Arkansas]

That freeze spray is a hive saver for both of us. 
Van

/Does it kill them or anesthetize them?

Ace, good morning to you Sir.  The freeze spray kills being minus 62F.  The frozen beetles frost over, turn white from frost and become hard as a rock.  The beetle thaws, but it?s s goner, I believe the specific killing agent is crystallization of all cells from freeze.  Having fun in Florida, you still have bees, Ace?
Blessings

I will add: Ace, you may be thinking about cryogenic, freezing cells at minis 80F and yes the cells thaw and live.  However with cryogenics we must add 10% glycerol to the cellular mixture to prevent crystalization, without glycerol the cryogenic cells would die.  The glycerol prevents crystallization therefore glycerol prevents cells from freezing to death, even at minus 80F.

[Live Oak]

Small hive beetles DO NOT cause the collapse of a beehive.  If you are seeing abnormally high numbers of SHB's in a hive, there is an underlying problem such as varroa mites, poor nutrition, disease, or some other environmental factor.  I use non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner to kill hive beetles when I see them in between thermal mite treatments which kills large numbers of them.  The brake parts cleaner works well, evaporates almost immediately and leaves NO chemical residue.  Just have to smoke or move the bees out of the way before using it and when using it, do it VERY judiciously with a very light touch so as not to spray huge amounts.  You want just a slight dribble.  This is an excellent treatment to rid hives of ants as well. 

You may want to do a mite alcohol or sugar roll, or a sticky board mite check to determine you varroa mite load and treat as needed.  A quick OAV treatment is a great way to effect a good mite knock down.

Check your brood and storage frames.  Is there adequate bee bread, capped honey or uncapped nectar available for the nurse bees to provide feed to the brood?  Does the young, uncapped brood have adequate bee milk/jelly or are they close to being dry and struggling?   

[FloridaGardener]

Yep, I found out I must not only fill grooves with Tite-bond-glued starter strip, or chopstick/jumbo skewer (for bottom of frame) ...but also...fill poorly mated corners.   

I have a hive with worse SHB problem than the others - chronicled in:
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=52382.0

turns out part of the problem is gaps and grooves.