That is a nasty looking bug😂You guys got BIG bugs. Guneline Bees, are having a real big problem with SHB's this year, they lost a long hive to them. Kamon was talking about a new trap/poison for SHB's, he was saying it's in testing or something but it looks to be bee safe. Take a look at his Live from Saturday, scan for him holding up a SHB trap. Summer is rapping up quickly, time for Winter Prep soon. Thanks for sharing your time with us Nathan, Blessed Days...
I saw that video. The “trap” is a copy of the beetle barn which has been out a long time. The bait they have now is borate based so not bee safe and not legal, but they are working on a chlorantraniliprole bait which would be great.
I'm a second year beekeeper, so huge grain of salt here, but last year I had problems with shb. They slimed a frame or two out. But this year, I have yet to see one adult. My first inspection, I had grubs in my bottom tray and then none the inspection after that. I have a guess that the ants are getting them. I'm wondering if grubx may be keeping the shb's natural predators away as well?
Good day, this ain't a how to comment, this is a how I do comment. Lol I personally wouldn't promote swarm cell genetics. Crazy as it sounds, but feeding on a flow will get the foundation drawn out faster when the hive is full of the appropriate aged bees to do so. Brood rearing slows as the pollen slows meaning less young bees to draw wax later in the season, one of your recent videos shows proof how quickly they can get it done. I'm glad you see the benefits of MORE wax on foundation. It's almost like they rework that "free" wax into comb, it would blow your mind if you rolled on an OZ of wax per foundation, they manipulate the wax to comb without feeding or a flow. You will love the syrup feeding trailer, I used one for 5 years. I could hitch the trailer after work and go feed 300 gallons.
I prefer planned supersedure/emergency cells. Still new but I am finding I like to start making my queens in the tail-end of my blackberry flow while they have excess natural food supply's. Seems to be working well this year.
All we do is swarm cell genetics here in south Louisiana. They tend to be the hardiest also and handle hive beetles and other issues easier. Something to be said about the mutt bees or Heinz 57s. They are mean but they are strong and take care of themselves or die. Organic beekeeping. 😊
@BryanBurnsBees depends when they swarm. If they swarm on buildup, then the honey crop is lost. You must like doing weekly hive inspection looking for cells and catching swarms. I prefer doing splits and making a big crop, then requeening on my schedule.
so ive seen alot of videos where people have the inside of their top covers and bottom boards painted. i thought we werent supposed to have paint anywhere on the inside of the hive exposed to the bees? also, have you tried the swiffer sheets that bruce uses to trap the beetles?
That advice goes back to the lead based paint days. With modern paint it’s no issue. I’ve tried swiffers and Dixie sheets. Moderately effective and majorly annoying.
As always Nathan thanks for taking the time to share 20:09 …Dennis and I have learned so much from you over the years! Nathan did you make your lids (the ones at about 20 something in the video) or purchase them somewhere? Dennis really likes those! God bless💞💕
I started using peppermint candy to combat SHB. Ive seen lots of people having success. Too early for me. Swiffer sheets work very well, changing out once a week with about 50 on each. Also trying murder mud on hives. I hate SHB. We need a solution. I also use grubex.
Don’t feel too bad about those few hives. I got nailed with something. My hives died out while on vacation and hive beetles took over. Only two colonies left. The rest is junk because of slime. Been doing this for twenty five years and never did I get hit like this. It’ll likely be the of of my hobby
@@DuckRiverHoney I'll need new locations. Seven was applied early on the season to crops and this was the start. I recently found out by a farmer in the area
I'm assuming you've tried the regular hive beetle traps. Did those not work at all? I really do love your videos and hearing your approach to problem solving. I'm a hobbyist keeper in North Texas and I've learned a so much from you and the challenges you've faced. I really appreciate the extra work it takes to document your progress and I'm wishing you and your business all the success in the world!
Thanks! I’ve tried almost all the beetle traps. All have issues, some work better than others. Scale is a big issue. You can fuss around more if you’ve got 5 or 10 hives than you can with 200.
You sure have your hands full. Don't forget to count your blessing and smile once in awhile. That AC unit looks like my kind of work. LOL Have a great week.
Have you ever tried icing sugar and borax in a container the beetles can access and the bees cant . I use it for ants in a jar with small holes in the lid too small for bees it is deadly for ants 🐜.???.
Holy smokes, I thought I had a problem with hive beetles! Mine are nearly non-existent compared to those..... you should add Whack-A-Mole sounds to the SHB killing scenes.... LOL I have had two SHB slime-outs this year though, I have done a couple of ground drenches with a high percentage permethrin, it has helped, now that it has rained finally, I need to reapply. I'm also looking at and considering the bye-bye-beetle traps and bait. Best wishes on getting those pesky beetles under control. Keep up the great work!
could you make a 1/8 " hardware cloth screen around a sticky trap ( for mice and spiders)and maybe bait it to catch beetles. maybe hang them between frames. I use Swiffer pads, they work pretty good.
Hello Nathan, I'm sure that your discouragement will only make you burn for knowledge of a way to eliminate these pests, that maybe the silver lining. I'm a hobbyist beekeeper and I live in the Sacramento area and we don't get a lot of shb, but we do get some and I've observed a couple of things about their behavior in my own experience. #1 when feeding, and I use the same ratio as you, when the syrup ferments it develops a yeast that coincidently explodes when shb eggs hatch and become larvae. This explosion sends out a demand for participation to every shb in the area, it would be terrific to know precisely what distance they can detect an exploding population. #2 usually the first sign I see of them is larvae in the feeders. Yesterday I was helping my daughter with her hives and I was filling feeders, it was awful hot and I was on my last hive and grateful. When I opened the hive I could smell the vinegerish smell of fermentation so I shined a light in the feeder and it was empty. I took it out of the box cleared the bees and bounced it a couple times upside down looking for anything amiss, nothing there so I took a gallon jug and began filling it. As I neared the end of the jug I was trying to watch both ends of the feeder to make sure it didn't overflow due to it probably being out o level. As the liquid came into sight I saw the shb larvae at both ends, I was dismayed as I'd just ignored my warning signs and wasted a gallon of syrup. I went to my truck and got a heavy duty garbage bag, poured the contents of the feeder into it and brought both feeder and bag home and put them in my freezer where they will stay for a week. I've read that potassium sorbate will keep the syrup from fermenting but can't find any research on it's effect on honey bees. I haven't seen a shb or larvae on my own bees this year but last year I did. I didn't use GrubEx on the soil as my wife's chickens spend a lot of time under my hives, what I did use was predatory nematodes. A new beekeeper that I help out has the feeder/ larvae problem and has tried peppermint oil in the feed and the last time I talked to him it had stopped. That's all, but I do know for a fact that the road to success has to pass thru discouragement and failure. Best wishes
Hi Duck River, I have a suggestion for your hive beetle problem that i do all the time and it makes a big difference. If you notice most of the beetles are next to the lid on your hives. I use a spacer 1\2 inch thick. If your bees have room to get around them i think you will see a huge difference in the amount of beetles. It also makes it possible to feed pollen patties with a lot less beetle problems.
The beetles would still be there, just pushed to a different spot. I actually like the flat migratory lids because they let me easily monitor the beetle populations.
I've been told by comercial bee keeper that open feeding at about 100yrds away this time of year is best way to draw comb here in Tennessee. He said the flying to go get it stimulates wax building
The other RU-vidrs must not have sent you over the memo. Never show the hive beetle in the hive. Pretend hive beetle are not a problem for you. Tidy up in the hives before bringing camera in. Thanks for taking the time to also film the process. It’s hot and tough enough without a camera in my hand. Cheers
I just reworked my feed system, I had a 100 ft 3/4” hose with an electric pump coming off of a 55 gallon drum. I changed it to a 50 ft hose w/ a gas nozzle and a harbor freight gas nozzle. Definitely speeds up the process and only had around $500 including the hose reel
EZ OX Tablets are the 2nd USDA/EPA approved Oxalic Acid for our honey bees and approved at 2 grams per box!!! and ok while honey is on!! They are still shooting for an approval of 3gm's per box! They were at Bee Expo. Veteran Owned!
Another excellent video. Do you use/make your own honey bee healthy to add to your sugar water? I'd blend in some peppermint essential oil to that to keep the SHB out of the feeders. Also, I prefer the Motherlode feeders because the bees feed at the ends, not the middle, so there is minimal sugar water that the bees can't reach & less left for SHB. And I completely agree with giving up on that weak/wimpy colonies. 3 strikes and they're out. I don't tolerate wimps/freeloaders in my bee yards, either they perform or they are replaced.
I have tried alot of steps against hive beetles. And have had several slime outs. Beetle traps work. I use the reusable ones with cooking oil. Once they the beetles are in, it is action time. Once the larva gets to the grub ex they have caused havoc in the hive. Weaker the hive the worse it gets. And when a strong hive swarms the beetles get loose and lay there eggs. Also i would say more on the ends have more to do with those beetles that fly in from miles away and enter the first in a string of new opportunities. So as good as grub ex is against killing larva from your hives, the battle is those flying in. Again I dont want chemicals in my hives and I let them swarm. So I have found traps between the frames capture them. And it works. Also I am small scale and do realize larger scale time constraints. Just trap the ones in jeooardy to start with.
ha enjoyed your video on the hive beetles get with Kamon he can give u the wed site where u can get some Bettle bate poison my beetles looked like your do right now last year I put down the grub x in all my yards and got some of the traps and baits to the tune of 225. The Bettles are not bad at all right now is it the poison I do not know I just know my bettles were really bad like yours last year and they are not this year. Good luck with the bettles. hope u have a blessed week
My guess that one hive that had all the beetles coming out of the frame check to make sure there’s not thousands of larvae inside that feeder. I see this happen some on my hives.
I was wondering how did you go about finding out yards for your bees, my problem is I don't know very many people with land large enough to support bees, so I quess my question is do you just go knocking on doors and do you rent are pay in honey, thanks for any info you may have.
Someday you will really get good at smashing those SHB's, not having to use a hive tool but both hands simultaneously using thumbs, index, or the little finger, and once in a while smashing two at the same time. Need to work on those on the periphery of the lid first before the reach the edge, jump off, and fly away.
Some hives are so bad the beetles fly onto me. Then I have to catch them off my veil and squish them. Four solutions went into that hive. In two weeks it’ll look a lot different.
Interest having a hive that just wont. I have had that. Now i just knock em out 1st base. Its as if they just get in a bad place and nothing is good enough. Just pure time wasting i found.
What was that first tree turning red. I think you edited that part out. Was it Black Gum Tupelo? We don’t have them growing wild here and I’ve got about 25 in 3 gallon pots I’m growing from seed to plant this fall. I’ve got a bunch of different species of trees I’m growing from seed for my bees. I probably had 20 small black gum die that I planted around my pond because of a freak long term flood event. I’ve lived on my farm since 1986 and it’s only flooded like this once before. It’s like a desert here during summer in my sand and Texas heat so I plant them near water. I think they would’ve survived that flood if they’d have been about 10’ tall.
I'm curious to see what hive count you will settle into and how your work flow will change and become easier once your not in an expansion mode constantly. thanks for the videos
I’m hoping to go into the flow next spring with around 200. Also plan to grow some next year, and improve facility and equipment. I’d love to be able to extract after the early flow and put supers back out for the June flow. I just didn’t have the facility to do that this year.
U can even add Peppermint oil to the sugar syrup & it builds vitelligenin in the bees, there's a whole interesting study on it...also helps with mites a Lil bit
