Thanks for that reassurance Jeff.
Maybe I need to relax a bit.
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@Esckay, I have been able to get the Diatomaceous on line. Then several weeks later I was at a farm supply shop in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia, to buy some wood shavings to put in the roof cavity of my FH2, and blow me down, right there in the same section as the wood shavings were they also had the Diatomaceous in stock too, WOW!!!
Happens like that
I got mine online but have net yet seen it locally
This is all I know about the one I got
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@Esckay Stephen, have you tried looking for it in the chook section of a farm supplies store, as thatās where I found it. I didnāt add, that on visiting a second farm supplies store (the same day), that they too had it in stock, and yep in the poultry section too. At the time, I was actually seeing if there was anyone in the town of Wagga Wagga whom stocked any products for bees, eg brood boxes etc. Sadly there is only the local bee club, and they are only meet once a month.
I havenāt really looked for it
I suspect it would be in poultry supplies as it is often used with chooks
Hi Semaphore
The bottom board of the FH2, whilst it is great to control SHB by filling the tray with oil, is is not too great most of the time. As the hive is tilted back 3 degrees, the landing board easily allows driving rain to fill the tray.
You do not need to replace it, just simply turn it upside down and water will drain off better than a solid bottom board. Hey presto, problem solved.
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@tassiejeff, Jeff if you put the @ symbol in front of the personās forum name (as Iāve done with you) whom you are replying to, then the forum will notify that person that they have been contacted.
The comment about water getting into the FH2, can usually be tracked down to a leaky gabbled roof. I have seen several comments claiming that being a problem, so when put my FH2 together, I used PVC glue on every join on the roof to seal it, and the roof on my FH2 doesnāt leak, nor have I had any problems with water getting into the flue tray either.
@buzzing-bees
Thanks for you feedback, I always value that interaction.
Iāve done everything you have mentioned and more as it is the gold standard. Itās just that in Tassie we have very strong winds and the rain is driven into the entry.
Thereās no problem now that the tray is upside down.
Cheers
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Hi all, during my inspection on the weekend (in Canberra), on checking my conflute tray (FH2) we found about 6 SHB - damn little blighters. Hoping not to find to many more 
picture attached.
I would just squash those beetles. What I would suggest to do is to check & clean the tray once a week or once a fortnight. Just squash every beetle you see. If a bit of moisture gets into that crud buildup on the tray, it makes a beautiful nutritious sludge for beetles to lay eggs in. Wax moths will certainly lay eggs in it as it is.
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@JeffH That is exactly what I did. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated 
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I found two small fawn coloured moths in my tray and assume they were wax moth but have never seen pictures of the actual moth. I squashed them and gave the tray a thorough wash and replaced the DE. There was no larvae present so Iām hoping I washed out any eggs.
I recommend utilising the tray for better pest management by filling it with 2-3 mm of oil (any oil will do e.g. veg). This effectively kills any beetles the bees push through the metal grate above and can also be replaced every fortnight or so to keep on top and manage numbers.
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@Bianca, I did put vege oil in the tray yesterday afternoon. I will check the tray on the weekend to see if there is anymore in the tray. Is it necessary to keep oil in the tray all the time or only if there is a presence of SHB?
Oil prevents other pests from living and feeding in the tray, such as wax moth. If there is no evidence of SHB itās not necessary, I suppose, but it does help to have some form of management in the tray at all times.
@KSJ, DE stands for Diatomaceous Earth. It is in a powder form, is harmless to bees, and only harms small pests (as mentioned earlier). Where as oils are messy, yet the DE remains dry unless there is some kind of fluid leak into the flue tray. When you do need to replace it, just throw the used DE into the nesting boxās of you chocks (if you have chooks that is), or into your veggie garden, as it will kill slugs/ snails, and many other small garden pests. DE can be found in most places where chook products are sold, used to kill mites that infect chooks.
I would disagree that DE is harmless to bees. Iāve seen bees with DE powder on them and they donāt look happy at all. I use it in my tray, but never where bees can get to it.
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@Outbeck, I donāt think that I would be happy about getting covered in something that I didnāt know what it was. Only yesterday 1 of my bees fell in a tin that has DE in it to keep ants from climbing up the legs of my FH2, by the time the bee managed to work out how to get out, it was covered in the DE powder, she was literally white, she just flew off like nothing had happened. Iām sure that amount of DE would have killed her if it was going to, but Iāve been told that it only kills very small critters like SBH beetles, wax moth larvae, ants, etc, not something the size of a bee. Please I will stand corrected if Iām wrong, but by all means if you think that I could be wrong, then keep using the DE in the flue tray of your hive, I have it in mine tooā:+1:
DE harms all insects, bees too!
Food grade diatomaceous earth works to kill insects by lacerating their exoskeletons and dehydrating them. ā¦ In any case, diatomaceous earth has the potential to be harmful to bees and should therefore not be applied to any surface with which bees might come in contact.
Edit: source: Diatomaceous Earth and Bees - Absorbent Products
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@Buzzing-bees Trevor @Eva is correct, all the research I have done on the web this morning suggests that DE is harmful to all insects including beesā¦ although if you are just using it in the bottom tray where the bees donāt have access then I guess I may consider using it. At the moment I will continue to use vegetable oil in the tray. Thanks for the advice.
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