Introduction is up to you, either front entrance just guide them in. Drop them into the hive during inspection will be a good way for you to see the reaction of the bees. It amazes me which insects are permitted to stay in the hive and not bothered by the bee's.
Their food sources are various, one of the reasons I didn't put Labidura on my first list was I thought that they ate dead and decaying material (so handy in the garden compost)then I found that their diet was huge in range. They don't seem to go near the brood area at all, will sometimes be seen in the upper parts of the hive and lid, mainly forage in the crumble on the floor. Similar habitat to the shb. Eggs are laid in cracks around wood joins etc and are guarded by the mother. Sometimes they nest outside of the hive between bottom board and pallets or in leaf litter etc. If their numbers get high from a good hatching of young I just flick them out or relocate to another hive. At times I think they have all gone and then they re appear. As with most insects breeding times seem to be more related to food supply and conditions than a particular time of year.
So those spots in the hive where you would have seen shb, under crumble on the floor etc you may now see Labidura. I think they like the climate of the hive, as it's fairly stable in temperature and humidity year round so to is there life cycle as a result. Perhaps that is the symbiotic part of the relationship they have with the bees.
Large hives, that have clean floors and are full of bees don't need the earwig obviously but they will still be found occasionally on patrol or outside the hive.
Stored combs are kept clean of shb and to a point wax moth. That is don't put earwig in an old box full of wax moth and hope for brand new combs at the start of the season. They seem to prefer the moth to the larvae. But there are lots of spider species to keep your stored combs clear of wax moth or a few sprigs of bay leaf.
Good questions all things I should be adding to my paper thanks. Hope your season is going great.
What's the next line? Now the artful young rogue, while they held their collogue? ?
