Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: capt44 on November 16, 2016, 11:45:08 am
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Howdy,
I'm Richard Vardaman President of the White County Beekeepers Association in Arkansas.
We had a speaker this month, Dr. Yong Parks of the University of Arkansas Pinebluff extension office speaking on research he has done on the Small Hive Beetles (7 years) and his observations.
He noticed the small hive beetle larva will crawl across a cement slab until it reaches soil then immediately go into the soil. I will not crawl any further.
So instead of treating all around the hive and under it just simply treat the soil immediately below the entrance or under the hive if using a screen bottom board.
Instead of using chemicals like Permethrin or Guard Star just apply Salt to the soil.
You have to work it into the soil but Salt will kill the larva and Adult Beetles as they emerge.
That alone will save beekeepers a lot of money.
But treating the soil for the beetle larva only breaks the Small Hive Beetles life cycle.
Another thing I picked up on was the gestation period of the eggs of the small hive beetle.
The Female Beetles only lay around 1,000 eggs max during their lifetime.
The Female lays 2 eggs at a time. So if you have a large population of beetle larva (usually different generations) you have a large amount of female small hive beetles.
Now he says also that the reason some hives will have a large population of beetles and bees is the bees herd the beetles to one area called a beetle jail and when confined the male beetles will cannibalize by eating the small hive beetle eggs. They need the protein.
Also Temperature plays a factor.
The beetle eggs at 90 degrees F will hatch within 1 to 1 1/2 days while if the temperature in the spring and late fall is in the 70's the eggs can take up to 7 to 14 days to hatch.
Dr Yong Parks gave a lot of information on different things he tested them with.
Hope this gave a little insite on the Dreadful Small Hive Beetles that have been rampant in Arkansas this year.
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Humidity also matters. Few SHB eggs will hatch under 50% humidity. No eggs will hatch under 34% humidity.
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Instead of using chemicals like Permethrin or Guard Star just apply Salt to the soil.
How long will the salt be effective in the rainy season. (6 days out of 7) What keeps the larvae from crossing the barrier to get to fresh soil?
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The Humidity here in Central Arkansas stays around 50% and higher most of the time.
What I've seen is as soon as the beetle larva touches soil it immediately goes into the ground.
I'm sure as with anything else the salt will have to eventually be replaced with time.
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""You have to work it into the soil but Salt will kill the larva and Adult Beetles as they emerge.""
Kinda impossible, isn't it. If it kills the larva, how can the adults emerge?
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Keep in mind that SHB don'tjust come to your hives from the larvae coming out of your hive. They are claimed to bee able to smell a hive from as far away as 5 miles. If you want proof, place a screen top board on top of a hive, leave the top off, at sunset and watch the SHB come pouring in on top of the screen. I killed about 100 beetles the first time I added it which was at sunset.
Jim
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Cap'n,
Thanks for the info. Salting the ground sounds really useful. I have found that at least 18' off the ground helps. I think it is due to the ground drying out under the hives. Also allows my chickens to scratch under the hives.
Last year I saw where some gulf coast area beeks are running frames warm way with good results. I've modified 2 bottom boards and gonna try it this year.
I realize this is such a small sample that it will not be close to scientific but I figure its worth a try.