Make sure that all your woodware fits together well and there are no gaps and cracks. The entrance reducers is a little loose top and bottom and might let a few beetles in until the bees propolise it shut. One thing to note if it is a really weak colony you might want to reduce the opening to only use half of the Guardian. This is why the Guardian has a divider down the middle. Great video. Thanks
Very interesting never seen this Guardian before, anything that stops the beetles has to be a good thing. Just one point. Know nothing about hive beetles or how big they are and looking at the piece of wood you mounted the Guardian on, on the right hand side there seems to be a gap between the wood and floor. Is that a big enough gap for the beeltles to get through.
Nice idea though looks like beetles may be able to scoot in the gap beneath your wooden reducer . I wish it were " reducible/ extendable " to accomodate various entry sizes . Not all hives are made the same . We would want to reduce it further for maybe a smaller swarm , or a weakened hive colony.
I removed it for winter and cover the entrance with rabbit wire. I was afraid the snow and ice would break the plastic entrance and beetles aren't an issue over winter if your in a cold region.
You have huge gaps under the wood you used as the entrance reducer. That's not going to stop them at all. I have fought with these bugs for years. I lose a hive or more to them each year. This entrance assumes you can close the minor gaps and cracks.
Hi Jason! I get so many questions from viewers who want to know about SHB traps. I've always suggested the beetle jail, but this looks like a better solution since it stops them at the entrance, rather than trying to deal with them after they get inside the hive. I'm extremely fortunate that I've never experienced the slime-out that can occur in the honey supers, but this would be good to have on the shelf at the ready! I'm going to send them your way on this one for sure! Do you have an update? Now that it's August, have you noticed reduced numbers in your hives? Thanks! Great Job!
@Frederick Dunn As always, nice to see you in the comments. Hope things are well. Yes, SHB as a nightmare once you get them, I went 9 years without ever seeing them then bam they were here. I have tried several traps and none have really impressed me so far. That said, I have not made an update on the Guardian but it's coming very soon. I hope it does what it's designed to do. I will say that the tubed entrances I am experimenting with do seem to be working. The down side to them is they restrict traffic so it takes several tubes per colony. I appreciate you sending traffic my direction. Thanks and take care!
I see a lot of commenters already said what I was going to say. But, after thinking about it for a moment I realized it won't take long for the bees to propolize those cracks. If this and your tube entrances work, they are definitely the way to go. And economical.
Thanks for the videos, keep it up. I've been using a similar entrance with an integral guillotine style vented entrance reducer since I started my two hives in April. (sorry for the word jumble, it's sometimes hard to describe custom adapted 3D printed parts) They definitely work to block the majority of adults from getting in, unfortunately my outer covers have not. I replaced the warped cover on purple hive with an Apimaye cover, and the population of beetles is falling. So I know the entrance is working now that I closed the back door. The only negative to the entrance is some of my bees prefer to land on the bottom board, then crawl up through the hexagonal openings, knocking off their pollen baskets. Doesn't happen much, but something to be aware of.
hi jason! any update on these? i want to buy the guardian bee lower entrances (i am not going to use an upper entrance). I just wanted to see what you think after all this time. I just left germany where i was beekeeping and moved back to the states, where SHB are a problem
The Guardian entrance does a good job at slowing down the beetles from entering but it's not 100% effective at stopping them. I'd had really good luck with applying nematodes to the soil around my hives and killing beetles before they become a problem. Best of luck, glad your back in the USA.
Looks good wish was little cheaper its fine for a couple hives but with lots of hive at 9 $ each plus the upper entrance thats going to add up fast thanks
I’m in the Groveport/ Obetz area. It’s nice to see a local beekeeper teaching us. ❤️I’ve been viewing bee keeping for almost 2 years. I’m hoping to start a hive next year.
Hey Jason, I've been using the lower Guardian on two of my hives along with the beatle barn. In these two hives I would see hive beatles every time I would go into the hives. Since I installed the Guardian (leaving the beatle barn in effect) I have to look real good to find one beatle. I'm very satisfied with it.
I’m on vacation so no need to be up early hence I’m drinking coffee and watching too. I noticed that there appeared to be a slight gap between the bottom/board and the insert you made. Is it possible that the gap (if it even exists but does appear so) gave enough smell to maintain confusion? I’ve played tricks on my bees by flipping the entrance reducer, small hole, from one side to the other. Never saw this much confusion.
I’ve used the guardians for 2 years now. I love them. I also use the beetle trap on top of the frames with oil and only get 1 or 2 n them. Haven’t lost a hive from beetles since using them.
Will the Guardian work with screened bottom boards? Can't the beetles just walk up the beehive stand, threw the screened bottom board and into the hive? I kinda like having screened bottom as I live in Florida and it is hot!
Mr. Gent, I am running experiment. 10 hives on concrete surface, I used one guardian last year. 9 this year have one with one without. 5 hives have screened bottom boards 5 solid . 4 have dark green tops 4 have white tops tow shiny surface 9 have vented 1 by 4 with 1.5 screened window steel wire mesh hole on all four sides placed between brood and super . lost just one hive with no vented bottom or vented 1 by 4 with white top. Beetles have not been an issue yet in north Mississippi. Oh by the way the lost hive had guardian installed. All hives placed on pallets with half having landing boards. The hive lost....no beetles just nature . All hives are first year hives..I believe the concrete has helped for I am 30 feet from grass with DE placed at edge next to grass.....NO shade....the one hive with no guardian when checked every two weeks has five to ten beetles and others have under three or zero...kill them and check in three weeks....WE here in north Mississippi will have a weak honey crop in first year hives this year..pollen was weak also ..had to feed pollen and now we have dearth feeding 50/50 sugar...I was like you at first with using vented bottoms ..I thought with a bottom opening but they just try thru the front door ....very few..I am sold with this aspect of protection with all the other ways... dryer sheets ... blaster with D.E........could not find any cheaper than the 9.95 just take good care of them and not lose them ...lost 40% hives last year...all on grass ...I do test for mites more this year fall and early spring rather just spring...I hope this helps you sir
I installed one on a new hive. I actually saw a bee chase one away at the entrance in the beginning. It seemed as if the beetle couldn’t figure out how to get in so I was encouraged but after a few month I had a bunch in the hive.
I used 4 of them last year on my smaller hives. Worked great and even acted well as a robber screen. The robbers are too frenzied to figure out how to get in. Not perfect but worth it. Only problem was when I tried to remove using hive tool. The plastic broke. Have to be careful.
Hey JC, off topic question but I needed some beekeeper advice and I have been watching you for a while and trust your opinion. Can you use wax that was overheated to wax frames? I overheated some in my crock pot and it is no longer a yellow-white cream but a dark gold.
Question for you Jason. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I remembered a buddy of yours making and selling a wooden frame holder for grafting. Is this correct? If so could you point me in his direction please?
I have been debating buying the guardians because I use the ultimate robbing screens on all of my hives over the entrance with the reducers still in the hive, so I am invested. I have been making cd cases but love the idea of zero shb. Thanks for the post, I look forward to seeing what happens.
I haven't had any issues yet either but am going to order the entrances for our hives as a preventative measure. Can't bee to careful. Easier to keep them out than to get them out.
I bought 10 of the GUARDIANS from Blythewood bees 2 weeks ago. The small hives had a lot of beetles in them, some slimed. I changes the complete hive, removed the beetles and frames of honey & pollen. Put 2 built out foundation frames, some had honey on them, back in the hives with the bees, went back in 3 days. did it again, went back yesterday, no beetles. I ordered 10 more, what is a hive with bees and honey worth?
Hmmm.... It's worked very well for me. Do you have new boxes without unwanted cracks and holes? Maybe the beetles are bypassing the entrance? Or maybe you already were infested when you installed entrance?
I used these all last year and this. Only 1 hive beetle this year so far, but it slows the income of nectar. Ensure to cut your reducer to like 4" to match the guardian size. Company will give military discount. Think I paid $6.40 each. Still should add a beetle barn to the bottom board containing XXX for the onsies. Tubes work well for my nucs.
