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Nematodes for SHB
yes2matt:
Nematodes arrived today, FedEx express. Of course the cold pack was ... same temperature as everything else. I got my rake and the hose loaded in the car, I'll mix them into five gallons and apply them tomorrow morning early.
My complaint with swiffer sheets is that I never install them correctly and my friend catches a ton, but I catch very few. And I'm tired of messing with it.
My complaint with the proper traps is either that they don't catch any, or they catch a bunch and fill up in a week. And I don't visit bees every week.
My hope is that I can treat the soil around the hives, the nematodes will persist thru the autumn and provide a constant pressure against SHB population growth. Then I will apply again next April or so, and if the nematodes didn't overwinter it will be a new start and if they did it will be a boost. So hopefully over a couple years I can build/encourage a soil biome that is hostile to SHB larvae. And only costs me one visit a year, instead of a few a month.
I'll let ya know how it goes. ;)
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The15thMember:
Nematodes are people too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCoq4DFlSaU
FloridaGardener:
What I love about Sponge Bob is that is describes so much of real life...
I bought nematodes this year from Southeastern Insectaries. Applied last week, will post update later on SHB reduction.
I do think some hives learn to use the swiffer sheet better than others. I'll take a used one with a dead beetle still in the cloth and put it into a nuc. They get the gist and keep using it. The nurse bees have to attend a queen cup class, a towel fuzzing class, and a class on herding SHB into the West Beetle trap.
Oldbeavo:
Biological control is a fluctuating system.
The nematodes require a host to live and so they will grow in population while there is a host eg. SHB
But as the SHB population subsides so will the nematode population decline.
So you will get a fly in of SHB and they will grow the population of beetles and the nematode population will also increase as the SHB produce larvae.
So for biological control to happen there will always be a lag as the predator population grows big enough to eliminate the pest,
Can you survive the lag time?
paus:
May I reiterate about the DSBB and oil pan. I had not felt like servicing the oil pan, for several months, and I had lots of SHB a couple of weeks ago. I saw lots of SHB in the semi dry oil pan so I poured used cooking oil, from a fish fry, in the pan, without cleaning so that I killed all of the SHB. I checked a few hives most were double deeps, the first of this week. The only SHB I saw were in the oil. This works, but if I worked as many hives as I have, in my younger days, I am sure this would be more trouble than it is worth. BUT, I believe that one hive with oil pan in 5 to 10 hives would work almost as well, especially if some pollen pads or slime out bait were placed in the oil pan. I can service my oil pans from the rear of the hive with no smoke or hood. No bees can get in the oil pan unless a coon opens the door to the oil pan compartment, yes this has happened, with lots of bees in the oil. To service the oil pan I use a 5 gallon bucket and a strainer to strain out any SHB and debris, then the oil is recycled. If the hive is level only 1/2 inch of oil is necessary. I like to use water with a wetting agent added either Dawn or calgon or the active ingredient in Calgon. I buy in 5 pound sacks or larger. I also use this in the RV toilet, The active ingredient is Sodium hexa meta phosphate, available in small quantiles in the internet, or better from a chemical supply. With SHMP added to water any insect sinks as there is very little surface tension, this also kills mosquito larva, and is safe for human consumption as it is found in many blended syrups and sauces. The reason I don't use water is that it evaporates very quickly in our Texas 100+ days, especially if SHMP is used, oh yes it is used in steam boilers and water distillation units as well as commercial Reverse Osmosis units.
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