i went to a friends house to help him harvest his honey(13 hives) and 5 weeks ago we went thru the hives to check how things were doing and his hives had at 50 hive beetles (on each hive) that we saw.i told him he needed to get some traps and he said he tried it last year and had no luck.he used oil in traps that went between frames.i told him he needed to do something so he made up some swifter pads on stapled on bottom of cardboard with a wire fastened to it so he could slide it in at bottom entrance.well we went to get the honey with traps ready to put in after honey harvest and there wasn’t a single hive beetle in none of the hives.we didn’t take brood supers apart but last time they were everywhere running around.has anyone seen this before?
I use either Canola oil, vegetable oil or Sun Flower oil in the same traps with good success here in Australia. It is very rare to do an inspection here and not see SHB but their population can quickly go up or down, and I think the major factors is the number of bees in the hive, the stronger the hive the more they can manage the SHB numbers. When the weather warms and a bit more humidity the SHB numbers explodes, along with bee numbers.
When you say the chap used ‘oil’ in the traps last year I wonder what the oil was? Regardless with my experience with those traps they should have worked in keeping the numbers down.
Cheers
I am also having problems with small hive beetles in my two hives. I use diatomaceous earth in one tray and vegetable oil in the other. Both are catching lots of beetles but SHB still seem to be everywhere when I take the lid off. The bees are bursting with activity and there is plenty of nectar, pollen and new brood. I always see more beetles trapped in the bottom trays after I open the hive and it seems as though the bees need me to stir the beetles up before they chase them through the bottom mesh. Can I use an Apithor trap on the top of my frames under the lid or will this risk contaminating the hive and honey?
I wouldn’t put an Apithor anywhere other than the bottom of the hive.
When you take the lid off it is most likely the light that is driving the beetles down into the trap.
Another method if you are lifting a box off is to place it on an upturned lid and when you pick it up smash any beetles that have moved down onto the lid.
Has anyone used an Apithor SHB trap with a Flow hive and the perforated bottom screen? The Apithor site says they shouldn’t be used in hives with a perforated bottom board.
Ideally the Apithor should be the only place to hide and the screened bottom will of course provide an alternative but they may work together in conjunction.
I find beetles actually come up through SBBs as readily as they go down.
When SHB become an issue in my hives, and they often are, I fit a trap to each side that fits between the outer frame and the 2nd in on each side of the each box in the hive. An Apithor Trap on the base board is another option but I agree with @Stevo about using it only on the base board. I prefer not to use them when there is a chemical free alternative. I have had great result with apiary perimeter traps set around my apiary and it is amazing how many die in them before getting to the hives.
Cheers