Learning from a hive beetle infestation

Our hive last year had a very bad small hive beetle infestation. It got to the point where we would have full beetle traps every couple of days and have to refill them and had no real hope of fully killing all the beetles and ridding our hive of the pest.

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) is a pest that is all too common in american beehives nowadays. With the summer months approaching we are approaching peak mating season for these beetles so I thought I would take the time to share what our apiary has learned dealing with these pests and the best ways to prevent them from becoming a problem in the first place. You may start to notice them in some of your frames when you do inspections. I have noticed one or two beetles in one of our hives as well as someone else's hive that I service in the area so be on the lookout. To spot the small hive beetle look in the corners or the sides of the frame. Small hive beetles as discussed later in the article hate direct sunlight so they will scurry down your hive when you open it up. A good method to identify if you have any beetles is to open your hive and then take expose your top hive box to the sun for 10 minutes, then take off your top hive box and repeat the process until you reach the bottom board. This will ensure that most of the beetles will have gone to the bottom board to escape the sun so you will see some evidence of them if they are in your hive.

Insects like the small hive beetle are an r species which means they reproduce fast and in a short amount of time. The first thing you can do to reduce your chances of having a small beetle infestation is to have direct sunlight on your hive. Small Hive beetles prefer the shade to live and reproduce so the more direct sunlight your hive gets the better. Secondly its also important to know that while it may not seem like it bees do defend their hives from beetles they just have to use less traditional methods (because the beetles exoskeleton is too strong to be pierced by the bees stinger). Bees will often try to combat the beetles by trapping them in holes and trying to starve them. This appears to be only partially effective as beetles can trick guard bees into giving them nutrients occasionally and in larger numbers will overwhelm the hive. If you have a very small amount of beetles you may try not checking on your hive extensively as this can release the beetles from their captivity erasing the work done by your bees. The most common method for killing beetles is called the beetle oil trap. You can find these for purchase online and they work by attracting beetles into a trap of canola oil and drowning them. While this is a great method for trapping beetles in a hive it does little to stop them from reproducing and continually coming back into the hive and causing your bees stress.

Best Management Practices (BMP's) are the best way that humans can help their hive along while also not harming the health of the bees. A lot of the work that can be done to curtail the spread of the small hive beetle is to be aware of the area around your hive. The Small Hive Beetle reproduces in the dirt below a hive. This is why sunlight is important because the sun will also dry out the soil beneath your hive making it harder for the beetles to burrow in and survive the larval stage. One BMP that i have implemented in a hive that I service is to raise the height of the hive on top of 2 layers of cinder blocks instead of the standard 1. This makes it harder for the beetles to climb/fly into the hive entrance as well as makes the hive less damp by moving it further away from the potentially wet ground. Another BMP that you might consider implementing is changing the type of material that is under your hive. If your hive is on a tree stump or on some other type of organic material that can store moisture it might be a good idea to lift that material up and see if there is a lot of evidence of various types of insects living and reproducing there. This will give you a signal that beetle larvae will thrive in that environment. The third BMP you might consider implementing is using a type of soil or chemical to "treat the earth around your hive to kill any beetles that may be in the ground. Be very careful with this method as both bees and hive beetles are insects so most treatment methods that target beetles can also be disastrous for your hive if used incorrectly. Diatomaceous Earth is a product that can meet that need for you if you are willing to try. To most effective treat the soil around your hive first make a solution of the Diatomaceous Earth and water in a 1:1 ratio. Then you will want to spread it when your bees are not active so as to not accidentaly introduce the chemical to the hive. Water the soil around your hive with the solution and let it settle. This should last 1-3 months.