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Author Topic: SHB pollen patty  (Read 3946 times)

Offline RHBee

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SHB pollen patty
« on: September 08, 2013, 06:54:26 pm »
I'm looking hard to find an alternative to oil in my bottom traps. I currently use vegetable oil and it just causes a mess. I'm quickly expanding my yard and want to bounce a couple of ideas off you guys and gals. The whole idea is to reduce time and mess.

Idea #1-Replace the oil with diatomaceous earth. It's dry, deadly to insects, and when covered with hive debris it can be dumped under the hive to further control SHB.

Idea #2- Make up a special pollen patty laced with Boric Acid. This will be placed on the bed of DE in the tray.

No bees will have access to the trays. I won't have to worry about the mess and it should draw the SHB to the killing area.
Later,
Ray

Offline rwlaw

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2013, 08:38:05 am »
As a master beek puts it to me, do you really want to put something that kills a invertebrate into a hive of invertebrate?
I tried the combat/ pollen patty & boric acid/honey in cd cases and was disappointed with the results, wasn't worth the risk of the beetles finding they're way back out for the kill rate that I got.
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Offline sc-bee

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2013, 10:34:50 am »
#1- has been talked about and used. Maybe a search will show some results. I remember there were two different qualities of DE and it was important to get the right one.

#2- I am not sure breeding shb in the bottom of the tray with pollen patties would be the way to go? There was some work a while back on a shb trap with a yeast type lure. Not heard it mentioned in a while.

My first year I split two hives to four. I lost three of the four to shb. Since then through panic I have put some things in my hives I care not to mention. I have also tried several different traps. Since that first year I have lost several 5 frame nucs to shb and one other full hive.

What did all losses have in common. They were in a shaded or partially shaded area. Not full sun. Since then I have moved all my hives to full sun. Maybe I have been just lucky but I have not lost any to shb since then. I see shb daily, sometimes as many as 50-80 or so in one hive. It takes a strong gut check and trying to learn what the hive can tolerate for its size and strength. If the bees have the shb mostly corralled up top and the shb are not wandering around the hive on open comb I tend to not worry.

Wish someone would come up with a viable option. At this time I like none available.

It has been stated before but:
1- Keep hives in full sun
2- Do strong splits
3- Keep hives as strong as possible and only allow the amount of extra comb space they can defend and cover
4- Try to select for bees that chase and are aggressive toward the shb and coral them. Believe me I have seen hives that don't.




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Offline RC

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2013, 11:41:48 am »
I've tried about every combination of traps, bottom boards, hive placement, etc. for hive beetles.
I have settled on full sun, solid bottom boards and hygenic queens. Works best for me. I see very few beetles and very few mites.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2013, 12:39:22 pm »
I lost my first hive, a nuc, to a defective queen (defective wing virus) she never mated and the SHB took over the hive. I now use SBB on all my hives. I used to keep the oil in the trays up until this spring. The SHB numbers were very low this year so I am running them dry and checking them. Last month i checked them once a week and cleaned out the worms and a few SHB's. Since I pulled the honey last week we have been killing hundreds of them, especially the first day after the pull, but there numbers are reducing every day.
Jim
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Offline RHBee

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2013, 08:00:45 am »
Everyone, Thanks for the input. I value your experience. I got the whole full sun, strong colonies concept and apply it to all my hives. I just am obsessed with making these things a non-issue. Keeping my bees on solid bottoms would be much simpler. I've racked my brains and gone through several different designs of SBB traps. All this takes time. When I get to my goal number of colonies time is going to be a major limiting factor. I'm very happy with the level of control the bottom traps provide. They are just maintenance intensive. I'm looking for an effective alternative.
I have the necessary ingredients on hand I'll implement this method on one hive and see if it works. I'll let you all know how it works out.
Later,
Ray

Offline sc-bee

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2013, 04:00:23 pm »
So this is what I get for spouting of at the mouth. Stopped by a yard with 5 hives and a nuc today. All were strong a few weeks ago. Dead nuc completely empty. Two ten framers with honey supers- One dead and one completely void of brood and a couple frames of bees with queen. Both ten framers loaded with shb. Not sure which was the result of the other. No maggots but plenty slime. I am sure maggots are on the way  :hissyfit:
John 3:16

Offline RC

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2013, 05:29:24 pm »
Sorry to hear that, SC-Bee. I probably should keep my mouth shut too.

Offline RHBee

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2013, 07:27:24 pm »
I'm constantly looking for new ways to kill those things. I guess you could call it an obsession. I'm sure that some day I'll come up with a solution. At least one that works for me.
Later,
Ray

Offline RC

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Re: SHB pollen patty
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2013, 08:28:39 pm »
Referring to post#7, I should have kept my yap shut. I have not had too much of an issue with hive beetles, until today. It was a nice day, so I thought I'd look in on the bees. I went thru 12 hives and I bet I killed 500 beetles. I spent 4 hours out there mashing them. I've never seen this many in my hives. It looked like the bees were managing them well, most were pinned up in a corner with guards watching them and some were jailed up with propolis and wax. No slime or larvae, just beetles. But mashing them sure makes me happy.
On another note, I used some of those plastic frames from Mann Lake this year and I won't do that again. The top and side bars have slots in them ( they are not solid) and they make great hiding places for the beetles. The bees can't get to them and you can't get a hive tool in there to mash them. I'll fill these up with silicone and use the ones I have, but I won't buy any more. Solid wood frames for me from now on.