I inspected this 3 box hive last weekend. I never got down to the bottom brood box as the top brood box looked fine Lots of brood lots of drone that I was thinking of killing soon. The flow super looked fine… There was two beetles I dispatched. Just this afternoon I was checking both my hives. Bottom board. two beetles. Dead and dead.
Pulled the bottom on the other and it was full thousands of grubs. I god a bin dumped them in there. with some Morten. Can Wax moths go that bad or can beetles go that bad… I’ve never seen anything like this… This is a crazy escalation.
So I’m going to have to tear the bottom brood box apart tomorrow.
looks like its SHB so it’s going to be a job.Now wonder the bees have been a bit ansy.
Hi Harry, sadly it sounds like hive beetle larvae. Wax moth definitely don’t multiply like you describe.
Try to avoid any grubs making it to ground, that’s where they complete their life cycle, about 100mm below the surface.
You are correct “it’s going to be a job”.
cheers
PS, it’d be good if you can take some photos to share so others can learn, especially if you figure out what you can do to avoid it from happening again.
It’s a bit disappointing. I’ll be killing as many as possible.
It went from a 1-2 beetles a week to an out break. Possibly because I did the partial inspection. I’ve always noticed that activity is increased after an inspection.
I guessed it’ because everything else has been shaken up. Today was crazy.
Doing inspections are fine as long as we remember to put everything back together without squashing bees between frames & comb.
I always take a bit longer because I remove any possibility of bees becoming squashed between combs by removing any bur comb & using smoke to move bees away before replacing frames etc.
It’s all my fault I guess. This box had so much brace come. O was scared scared of killing the queen. So this is a lesson that I should have been in there fare more often. I’ll have to suit up well for this one. Any one near Tumbi Umbi want to help.
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There is only the one option if your a keen bee keeper and that is regular and full inspections. SHB and to a lesser extent wax moth are a part of having bees. A strong colony can control pests in normal conditions but if conditions are right for the pests then the best option is to help the bees out by adding a couple of traps into the hive.
Doing an inspection won’t cause an outbreak if you take care not to kill any bees in the hive, SHB will lay eggs in dead bees, as @JeffH has already said.
Regular full hive inspections are best and clean up any bur comb as you go, Work SLOWLY, especially in the brood box, slowly remove frames and when checking brood frames do it over the hive so if the queen is on a frame and falls then very likely she will fall back into the hive.
I would advise you join a local bee group or find a mentor to guide you as to what is the best practice in caring for your bees.
Cheers Harry