Fixing Bee Box Problems

[FatherMichael]

I've had a season with two Swedish polystyrene hives.

Overall I like them very much.  They built up fast from two nucs and I did not worry about them getting too hot this summer, and there was plenty of activity at the entrance today after several days of an ice storm and freezing weather.

The problem was small hive beetles.  The floppy clear plastic inner cover gave them plenty of places to hide as do the little risers on the frame rests.

Will trim the inner cover to fit right down on top of the frames and fill the space left by the riser.

[Brian MCquilkin]

Trimming might help a bit but the problem is not the hive. Its the small hive beetles no matter what you do to the hive they will find a place to hide from the bees. You need to deal with the SHB, Squish, trap, vacuum them up anything to get rid of them before the destroy your hive.
About 3 weeks ago I opened a hive and was horrified to see SHB in vey larger numbers. This hive was 5 deeps high and the had gone into swarm mode, I believe it was because of the SHB.  Lit the smoker and let the smoker continually run though the entrance SHB hate smoke and will go to the top. of the hive.
If you smoked the hive before opening the lid that might be why the were under the  clear plastic. I dealt  with my hive by brushing every frame to get the bees off then shook the SHB off every frame and squished them all, did that for 4 days in a row.

[FatherMichael]

Thanks, Brian.

[BeeMaster2]

Keep in mind, the bees will keep the SHBs locked up in small holes as long as the hive is not stressed. 
When a hive swarms, it is stressed to the max. The SHBs smell the stress and move in to the hive. At the same time every SHB in the hive is released from there jail cells and they start laying thousands of eggs. This also happens every time you do an inspection, especially when you take the brood apart. The bees stop paying attention to the SHBs until they fix everything that you messed up. It can take up to 2 to 3 days for the bees to get everything fixed. Then they start removing the eggs and SHB larvae. If they wait too long, the larvae get into the honey and cause it to ferment due to the the yeast they carry.
Remember, if you are constantly adding smoke while you are inspecting the hive, that smoke is covering every surface it touches. The bees stop everything and start removing it. In other words, less is better.
Jim Altmiller

[FatherMichael]

Thanks, Jim.

I try not to smoke or disturb too much -- in and out as quickly as possible.

I see maybe a dozen SHBs in each of the two hives in the woods -- get about half of them.

Once I saw three bees corralling one beetle -- that's a waste of bee power.

Ordered traps and found boric acid at the drug store.

[Michael Bush]

I think part of the small hive beetle issue is humidity.  The foam boxes have higher humidity and that helps the small hive beetles...

[FatherMichael]

Here in windy West Texas we have an average relative humidity of 54.  But my apiary is in the woods on a creek with constant water flow so it might be more humid there.