Controlling Small Hive Beetles

Why Are Hive Beetles a Threat?

Hive beetles can and will destroy beehives if steps are not taken to control them. I personally know beekeepers that have lost hives because of hive beetles. After observing hive beetles destruction I have become a warrior bent on their destruction. Here is why Hive Beetles are a threat:

1. Bee Brood Snack

Hive beetles come into your beehives and make themselves right at home. They immediately begin to lay eggs and their larvae do the same thing. Basically, they take over the hive and naturally, want food to go with the nice new shelter they hijacked. One of their favorite meals is bee brood. This is an issue because if hive beetles are eating the brood of the bees, then the hive can’t reproduce and become stronger. In turn, this weakens your beehive which is a big issue. This will eventually cause the queen to leave the hive and take the remaining bees with her so they have a great chance at setting up shop elsewhere and return strength to the hive.

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2. Honey Destruction

Hive beetles love honey. This is their other favorite meal. Hive beetles and larvae alike will climb into the honeycomb treating it as though it is their own personal buffet. However, unlike wax moths, they don’t destroy the honeycomb. They just eat the honey within it. But as if robbing from the bees isn’t bad enough, the hive beetles poop inside of it! This causes the honey to ferment and give off a terrible odor. That is how you will know that hive beetles have destroyed your honey harvest. Naturally, all of the honey that the bees have worked so hard to create will be wasted. This means your hive could starve, and you can forget to extract any honey from the frames that hive beetles have infested.

3. Stresses the Hive

Finally, hive beetles not only eat the bees’ babies and destroy their honey, but they ultimately stress a hive out. Bees work tirelessly. They are constantly foraging for food, feeding drones, the queen is laying eggs, the workers are caring for the queen, they are building comb, and so on and so forth. So when they have a mass amount of hive beetles to contend with, then they have to worry about rounding them up and keeping them away from their babies and honey. Does that not just sound stressful to you on top of everything else they do? Well, when your hive is stressed it becomes weaker. They are stretched thin and eventually you will see the hive begin to fail. As a beekeeper, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep the hive from stressing. That means during certain times of the year, you’ll need to feed them so they don’t stress over lack of food. Other times, you’ll need to provide hive beetle traps so the bees can do their jobs and not worry about waging war within their hive with hive beetles. Here is a list of things a beekeeper can do to control Hive beetles.

1. Expose Your Hives to More Sunlight

Our hives are in full sunlight with a slight shade from time to time throughout the day. Keeping your hives in full sun helps to deter hive beetles. Simply put, they don’t like the heat, but there is more to it than just that. The stronger a hive is the harder it is for hive beetles to take over. The more sunlight your hives get, the harder they work. Basically, they wake up earlier to work, and they work later. So keeping your bees in full sunlight is a good idea to keep them strong and hive beetle free.

2. Cover the Ground

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When you place your hives it is a good idea to place rock, tar paper, concrete and landscape tarp to cover the ground. The reason is that it makes it more difficult for the hive beetle larvae to pupate and come back into your hive with a vengeance.

3. Place Swiffer Sweeper Pads

I bet you didn’t know that those nifty little Swiffer sweepers were good for more than just mopping floors.Actually, the pads they use to mop your floors with are dual purpose. You’ll need to purchase the unscented kind for this trick to work.But you’ll begin by cutting the Swiffer pads into squares. Then you’ll want to place them over the brood frames and at the very top of the hive where hive beetles have a tendency to hang out.Then the bees will do the work for you. They are smart little creatures so they will immediately know that this pad should not be in their hive. So they begin to pull at it in order to remove it from the hive.However, in pulling at the Swiffer pad, they cause it to fluff up. Then when the hive beetles go through the pad because of the fluffing, they get stuck in it and die. This also prevents them from laying any more eggs. This is an inexpensive option to hopefully decrease the number of hive beetles you see in your hives.

4. Use a Freeman trap

Freeman traps are a great idea but can be costly. Mites and hive beetles fall down from the hive and drowns in either old cooking oil or a soap solution made from Dawn dish soap. A plastic insert is filled and checked from the rear of the hive which does not disturb the bees. These traps are a proven weapon in the war on hive beetles. These traps also offer added ventilation in both summer and winter. All my hives have these.

5. Use beetle blasters

These disposable traps are excellent for trapping hive beetles. There are also non disposable traps available on the market. You can use either old cooking oil or you can use (DE) Dimataceous Earth in these traps. Only fill the traps to about 1/3 level. Over time the dead beetles will putrify and smell so if you use oil change out the trap fairly often. I prefer to use DE.

6. Use CD cases

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I use a soldering iron to loosen and remove the tab to slightly increase the openings which allows the hive beetles enough space to enter the CD case. As bait I use one teaspoon of Crisco, one teaspoon of Boric acid and a teaspoon of honey as bait for the hive beetles. I mix this up in a plastic cup. I put a small dab of baIt in two or three places in the CD and then close it up. I put one case on one side of the hive entrance. I check it once every two weeks. The bait kills hive beetles. The bees do not come in contact with the bait!

7. Use Diatomaceous Earth

DE sprinkled underneath and around your hives helps to deter both hive beetles and other hive pests such as ants. The DE works great to kill insects as it opens fissures on the insects and their body fluids drain out.

8. Spray underneath your hives with a mixture of vinegar and pool salt.

Hive beetle larvae do not like this mixture and will die soon after contact. I use pool salt 4 cups and then add 4 cups of vinegar in a typical 2-gallon plastic sprayer. This mixture also helps to control weeds and grass growing under your hives. I spray a minimum of once a month depending on conditions. I do not advise using Roundup — It’s poison!

9. Buy the hive hotel which is patented.

It’s expensive. $5.00 per hotel. It works great. I use the same bait as above. The CD cases are much cheaper.

10. Unleash your birds!

Chickens and Guineas love to eat hive beetles and other pests around your hives. Many old-timers swear the birds help control hive pests. I have grown to be a fan. I love to see the birds work under and around my hives.

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