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ocba - Re: [ocba] Cut Comb Foundation and Small Hive Beetle Questions

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Thomas Grizzle <griz AT mindspring.com>
  • Cc: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Cut Comb Foundation and Small Hive Beetle Questions
  • Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:57:24 -0400

When SHB first moved into this area about five or six years ago, I studied up on them, attended lots of lectures, and worried about them constantly. I experimented with beetle traps and dreaded the day when my hives would be overrun. But as time went on I found that keeping the 3 "S"es under control (sun/space/strength) is the solution in our area, at least it has been for me. I used to see a fair number of SHB, but by  consciously implementing the 3 "S" strategy I rarely see more than a couple in a hive, and often I don't see any. I don't bother playing with SHB traps anymore because I don't think they add any benefit, other than the satisfaction of seeing a few dead bugs. For me, SHB is in the same category as Wax Moths and I apply the same prophylactic measures to both. And I no longer worry about either of them. I'm aware but not worried.

FYI, I've never seen any research that associates trap effectiveness with colony survival. Who cares how many adult beetles you kill if it isn't proven to keep your hive healthy? SHB are very different from varroa: for example, they can live perfectly well outside the hive, they are excellent fliers so move around at will and they don't depend on honey bees as hosts. The premise that killing adult SHB inside the hive reduces their ability to harm a hive isn't at all clear. We don't attempt to kill Wax Moths inside the hive because we have learned that it isn't effective and there are better ways to prevent them from becoming a problem. The same applies to SHB.

About your foundation scheme: If you put 5 frames of foundation in a 10-frame box, you may very likely get comb built in the empty space attached directly to the cover. If you have frames of drawn comb to intersperse among the frames of foundation (for a total of 10 frames), then your plan is fine. Note that to get bees to draw comb at this time of year, you'll need to feed them a thin syrup.

Let us know how it goes!

Randall



On 6/28/2012 8:06 AM, Thomas Grizzle wrote:
Was planning to sugar the hive with a vasiline covered bottom grid, but if the real issue is the larvae then i need to manage space better (top super is now gone).  I have a nearly empty brood chamber on top of a nearly full one...should i just give them maybe five frames of new foundation to draw out comb rather than ten? Seems to make sense....less space.

As always, many thanks...

From Tom Grizzle's very smart phone :D


-----Original message-----
From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
To:
Thomas Grizzle <griz AT mindspring.com>
Cc:
ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
Sent:
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 20:36:18 EDT
Subject:
Re: [ocba] Cut Comb Foundation and Small Hive Beetle Questions

Hey Tom,

If the foundation wasn't drawn out into comb yet, my guess is that it just drooped in the heat. Since the honey flow is over, the bees aren't going to be working in the super so they won't be doing any temperature management in it.

In my experience, a dozen small hive beetles isn't a worrisome amount if they are on the inner cover or empty super. It isn't desirable but it doesn't mean your hive is ready to collapse. The problem with SHB isn't the adults; it is the larvae. The solution to SHB is having a strong hive that can keep the eggs and larvae in check. As long as you don't actually see larvae, you aren't in imminent peril. A handful of SHB adults can spawn enough larvae to ruin a weak hive, and a strong hive may be able to easily control a fairly large number of SHB adults. Keep your hive in the sun, keep the amount of space the bees have to manage proportionate to the number of bees (remove extra supers so all comb is covered by bees), and keep your hive healthy and strong. Do these things and you shouldn't have a problem with SHB, at least not in our area.

Randall Austin

On 6/26/2012 7:16 PM, Thomas Grizzle wrote:

Hey y’all,

 

This morning I went into my hive to check on some things and to add a platform under the hive.  My current configuration was two brood chambers and a medium super with cut comb foundation.  When I opened the top, I found the cut comb foundation had all fallen down from their frames.  There were no wires, per design.  Why did it all collapse?

 

I removed the medium super and so now the hive has just two brood chambers.  I took the super away and left it in a place to allow the bees to escape.  Then I went back and took all the frames out.  There I found about a dozen small hive beetles, which I and my daughter took great joy in squishing.  Do I need to be worried about finding that many in the top super?  At least I decreased the population a bit, but how do I know if I have too many? 

 

Thanks!

 

Tom



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