During some hive maintenance last week I decided to try to surgically remove the sliding corflute from my screened bottom board. The girls had done an admirable job of propolyzing it to the bottom board and no amount of tugging was going to make it budge.
Surgery turned into outright demolition — I ended up having to tear everything apart, get into the underside of the bottom board and to a vertical cut along the corflute, then tear it out on each side. Whew. Good thing I was completely suited up — the girls were PISSED.
I did notice one thing that made me want to investigate a different, longer-term solution to SHB and other critters that fall through the screen. Between the screen and the corflute were dozens of live SHB and even a wax moth larvae (I think — it was certainly something wormy!)
In my trolling around on the internet I saw a Freeman beetle trap… It looks like just a tray (in place of the corflute) that holds oil to trap and suffocate the critters that fall into it.
So my plan for the spring: Build a new bottom board using the “Neverwet SHB barrier” (above) and something like the freeman bottom board method…
Where I need help:I need to source some trays that are sized to fit (roughly) into 8 and 10 frame bottom boards (and this can be a “close” fit as I have to actually build the bottom boards and can make some adjustments as necessary in their design. Has anyone looked at/done this?
Hi Michael, I often find dozens of live SHBs in my hives. It never bothers me, I squash the ones I’m able to. I just stick to my strategy that I recently described to @nbstl68, you will find it in my recent activity. I only use solid floors with a vertical landing board. The time & money you spend on oil trays can be better spent elsewhere.
just for next time: did you try and use a metal ruler- or the flow key to slide under the coreflute and break the propolis seal? Mine was stuck good but the steel ruler trick soon fixed that with minimal disturbance.
I’m lucky enough to not need to think about SHB but I seem to remember a Flow video about sticking a table cloth with fuzy backing upside down on the corflute to trap and kill the SHB.
Part of the problem with the corflute being ‘stuck’ was that I had put it in the top position, the girls had propolized it to the screen AND had built up a huge amount of ‘gunk’ at the sides. It was obviously a government job – just smear crap everywhere…
That’s what happened to me too- top slot- propolised in place. If you have a long metal rule you can slide/pry/slide it in between the screen and mesh breaking the seal. Then wiggle the coreflute out. Worked for me anyhow.
I agree with @JeffH tried screened bottomed board they just kept sticking it together so i came to conclusion they dont want it and if its in the bottom slot it gives the beetles another entrance to get in so now i use solid bottom boards and apithor traps and now i dont have many beetles to contend with