Small Hive Beetle Trap

I guess at some point or other every beekeeper has to deal with small hive beetles.  We've been dealing with ours here for a few weeks, and it seems like we're getting the upper hand.  We've got lots of lines of defense in place, and each one of them is catching beetles.  I'm open to helpful suggestions in the comments section below.

Got the idea for this contraption on YouTube. It's quite a simple concept, really.  To build one you'll need a 10-foot 2x4 (I used treated), #6 hardware cloth with a footprint big enough to cover the floor of the hive, a piece of plywood (I used 3/4 inch), and an 8-foot 2x2.  Finally you'll need screws or nails to hold it all together.

The holes in the #6 screen are big enough for the beetles to climb through, but too small for the honey bees.

The aluminum tray I purchased for $2 at a discount store, and it slides in from the back of the hive.  The tray is given a layer of canola oil (supposed to have the least odor) to about half of its depth.  The 2-inch depth of the tray allows for the forward tilt of the hive with no oil spillage when carefully removing the tray.

Tomorrow my wife and I plan to do some inspecting and super-shifting, so we plan to install at least one of these at that time.  We also need to combine a weak colony with a strong one, otherwise the weak one is not going to survive the winter.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Sunrise: 6:31 am

Sunset: 7:46 pm

Temperature at Noon: 90 degrees

Sun's Angle at Noon: 59 degrees

UV: High

Humidity: 54%

Three Hives and Counting

The buckwheat in the top field is looking good all over again.  The bees have come out of the woodwork and are devouring this new crop.

One of our babies taking a drink.

This is the second crop from this field of buckwheat.

The field is looking good.  The crop down below has again gone back to seed.  I'm going to mow it down again, till it in and see if the seeds will sprout once more before the cold.

Got ourselves another hive working.  This colony was extracted from inside a neighbor's wall.  Couldn't believe the size of it when I got the wall open.  The colony had grown to fill the entire space in the wall. Took several hours inside the suit to get the comb moved and the bees in the new hive.  My wife and I created a large bee compound out of a blue plastic 55-gallon drum.  We cut a hole in the top to accommodate the top of a 2-horse-power Shop-Vac.  We gently vacuumed the bees into the barrel and emptied them into the hive once we got it situated.  Lots of work, but a week later the colony has recovered and is going strong.  We'll see.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Sunrise: 6:28 am

Sunset: 7:52 pm

Temperature at Noon: 81 degrees

Sun's Angle at Noon: 61 degrees

UV: Moderate

Humidity: 63%