Hive Beetle explosion

I did not expect such devastation.  I didn't expect hundreds of dead bees, or fumes of fermenting oranges, or an explosion of hive beetles.  I didn't expect to see empty frames - no brood of any kind and no larvae anywhere to be found.

I was absolutely stunned and horrified when I pulled off the inner cover.  The feeder was full of dead bees and hive beetles and their larvae and wax moth trailings.

My first instinct was to just empty all that onto the ground, but I know that part of the life cycle of the hive beetle larvae is it crawling out of the hive and burrowing into the ground until it matures.  If I emptied the liquid and bees and larvae onto the ground, I'd be taking part in furthering the beetle's life cycle.  So rather than emptying it directly onto the ground, I spilled it out onto some garden netting and killed as many larvae as I could with the end of my hive tool. 

And I sat there on the tree stump I use for a chair and I cried.  If you know me at all you know I'm very passionate, and I have become attached to this weak hive in a way that I never thought I would, or could.  Seeing what I saw today was just too much for me. 

I saw one bee being born.  One.  And that is the very last bee being born out of the very last capped cell in the hive. 

The strong hive had a lot of beetles in it also, no surprise there, but this hive didn't smell like fermenting oranges.  The strong hive has a full medium of capped and uncapped honey which is a great sign. 

In each hive I'd spent time squishing the beetles with the end of my hive tool.  I noticed the bees rarely engaged the live beetles.  They also really didn't do much with the dead ones, either.  What it looked like to me was that they would engage the dead beetle briefly and then turn away, like it tasted bad or something. 

I got a few pictures of some beetle larvae on the edge of my hive tool.

I called my mentor John and talked with him about what I'd been through today.  He said that if the weak hive frames were dry, I could try taking two full ones from the strong hive and switch them out...the strong hive could feasably repair and fill the empty frames and the weak hive would benefit from having full frames...I could do that.  I'm still on that list for a nuc, and I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow.  But do I risk getting a nuc with the problems I'm having with the beetles?  I asked John what he thought about getting nematodes from SEI.  Since this is the first year John has had any beetles, he didn't know really anything more than what he'd read from the link I posted to their SEI's website.  I told him I'd call SEI today and see about getting more information.

I have to go back out and see if there is any stored honey in any of the weak frames.  If the hive is completely dry, it will be easier for me to merge it with the nuc.  I am pretty sure I have 5 dry frames of the 8 in the hive.  If I do switch to full frames into the weak hive, the nuc and my existing weak bees will only have three to fill.  It's only a $108 gamble. 

Phil Tedders at SEI was very helpful and although he admitted he didn't have all the answers I was looking for, just talking to him about their nematodes alleviated some of the anxiety I'm having about my SHB infestation.  He also told me that his dad, Lewis, could answer any of my questions.  I asked him to see if Lewis could call me before noon tomorrow.  I ordered 5 million nematodes (I'm not sure who they pay to count those little guys!) and asked Phil to send me any and all information he could with my order. He did tell me that the order more than likely will contain 7 million nematodes, on gel, and they like to overestimate the number they send and they guarantee live delivery.  5 million nematodes will treat 10 hives so I'm going to have some to share.  From their website, SEI says "Nematode species produced by SEI are used to attack and kill larvae of certain soil dwelling insect pests. These pests include, larvae of white grubs, Japanese beetles, root weevils, small hive beetles, armyworms, cutworms, fleas, clear-winged moths, and fungus gnats."  So, in the event that I keep more than I need for my two hives, I have some garden area in the front of my house that could benefit from a treatment of nematodes.  (I'm pretty sure I have Japanese Beetles)

I mentioned to Phil that I'd take the information to the LBA meeting and spread the word about their products and that I'd included a link to their website here on my blog.  It never hurts to make friends with people who have something you need. 

In addition to buying from SEI today, I also put in an order with Brushy Mountain for AJ's Beetle Eater traps, Fumigilan and Api Life Var.  My total today was $104.62 for the nematodes and the things from Brushy Mountain.  Tomorrow's cost of $108 brings my total to $212.  It's a good thing my intent in learning this craft wasn't to make money.  I wonder if the IRS would be upset if I tried claiming all of my "adopted" bees as dependants?

Beetle Jail and Southeastern Insectaries (for nematodes)

So I received an email back from Keith Delaplane.  He suggested the Beetle Jail for SHB and recommended a place in Georgia for nematodes, Southeastern Insectaries, (877) 967-6777.  Unfortunately he didn't go into any helpful details about how the nematodes are working, so I guess it's up to me to do some more research.  The SEI website is easy to navigate and has a lot of good information, I may have to find some time today to give them a call.

Here is a video of the beetle jail in action.  I would have like to seen him zoom out so we could see how the trap fits onto the hive. 

At our next LBA meeting I hear we are going to be discussing the SHB.

feeders and beetles and nematodes, oh my

To feed my two hives I have been using the hive top feeder.   These are great for feeding large quantities at once, and that's all I like about them.  The bees tend to congregate up there even when there is no syrup and subsequently when I pour in new syrup I've been drowning some of my bees.  Additionally I don't like (and what my mentor told me the other day is) that the hive beetle will take residence under the floats in the feeder. 

During today's check, I took the tops fully off the feeders and I found the dreaded hive beetle.  The picture above is a pile of beetles I squished.  (normally I just slide the top back about two inches to pour in the syrup)   When I fed my 1:1 today I looked for evidence that they'd invaded my hives.  Well, I didn't have to look very hard.  In my strong hive I had about 20 hive beetles that came scurrying out of the syrup I'd poured into the feeder.  And to add insult to injury, lazily floating in the syrup, I saw larvae.  If there was this big a disaster in the strong hive, what would I find in the weak hive.  I was almost too afraid to look.  Continuing in the strong hive, I ended up taking out the wooden floats and cleaning out the dead bees.  I also made sure that there were no more beetles before I put the floats back in and filled the feeders. 

Along with the hive beetles, I also saw some Queen cups along the bottom of three of the frames in one of the brood boxes.  I got video and counted maybe 11 on one frame alone.  All were empty but I have to wonder what they are up to.  There were also some larger cells with larvae in them but I'm not sure if they are potential Queens or drones. 

On a positive note, the entire top medium was filled with capped and uncapped honey.  And I caught a glimpse of a bee loaded with pollen baskets.

Entering my weak hive, I took off the outer and inner covers and did a quick scan for beetles.  I found only three, to my relief.  For some reason these bees still had some syrup left over from the last time I'd fed.  Until now it confused me, but  my best guess as I sit here and write is that since I put up the robbing screen these bees don't have the numbers on their own to consume the volume I've been feeding.  And they don't have the numbers because the Queen is worthless.  I hate to admit it because I was really pulling for her, but I just don't see the laying pattern I need to be seeing to justify her reign in this hive. 

So, the other day I got an email from the Sustainable Bee Program that indicated that they are switching gears and strengthening their educational activities, and are selling nucs to scale back their Queen production.  I sent an email to my mentors to get their advice and they ended up calling me to discuss options.  In talking with them I made the decision to get on the list for a nuc.  I can hardly contain my excitement, a laying Queen, drawn comb, a fresh start!!  Margaret reminded me that I'd need to remove and destroy the existing Queen.  Luckily I have a husband who is willing to do the dirty work for me. 

And just as I typed this, I was looking at the picture I took of the weak hive Queen.  And I think I see frothy honey in a cell near her.  Yet another "learning opportunity" for me.  Oh goody.  Frothy honey is a symptom of the hive beetle infestation.  I did some quick research and found a couple places that suggest GardStar as a treatment for the beetles.  But, it's highly toxic to people and bees.  Hmm, let the beetles infest the hive and possibly turn the honey to froth and slime and drive them out, or treat the soil surrounding the hive and potentially poison the bees and myself?  I see no happy medium.

I've spent about two hours creating this post, because of the complexity and number of the issues I'm having and stopping to do tangent research when I need more information about a topic.  I'm intrigued by some research being done with nematodes and sent an email to Keith Delaplane to get some insights and advice on the topic.  I hope I hear back from him, the idea of a non chemical tretment and prevention for the hive beetle excites me.  This information may be old news to some, but it's new to me and the process of learning by way of stumbling onto information helps, me at least, to cement knowledge for further use.


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Keeping something out means keeping something in

I wish I'd done this sooner.  Not only am I going to prevent some wax moth intrusions, but when I took off the outer cover today to feed there weren't a hundred bees congregating on the inner cover - they were all safely tucked away under the screen.  Yay!!  This ultimately made me happy for two reasons.  Less bee/hand interactions and less bees squished while putting the outer cover back on.  Thanks Margaret, for a great idea.

I fed the weak hive 4L and the strong hive just 2L today.  I'd wanted to get into the weak hive to check the Queen's laying progress as well as the worker's progress in drawing out the remaining comb but it's hot and I don't want to be outside in that jacket right now.

Intruder alert, intruder alert

Back on the 14th when I had seen a potential intruder I didn't have my camera.  So, I went back later in the day and took my camera to see if I could capture anything else.  Low and behold, an intruder.  While standing at the hive I got two shots of this bad boy...who ultimately flew off after not being able to find the entrance to the hive.  I wonder what other devious creatures have been attempting to hijack my babies?

Do I dare hope?

I went out at 7 am today to do a quick visual check of my package hive.  Without the protection of my suit and veil I didn't want to run the risk of getting stung unnecessarily. 

In the past few weeks I've rarely seen any activity outside this weak hive unless there was a robbing frenzy so I wanted to see what, if any, changes were visible since the addition of my homemade robbing screen. 

The front entrance was abuzz with bees leaving the hive!  And not only that but I also saw an invading bee fly up to the hive, land on the screen, walk around on it like it was confused and then fly off.  This bee wasn't a honeybee, it looked more like a bumblebee but I'm not sure what it was exactly.  Had I thought there would be anything to look at I'd have taken my camera with me.

Later today I'm going to check to see if they need more 1:1 syrup, if they took all 4L that I put in there the other day I'm going to be amazed.  My mentor said that maybe I should buy a nuc hive to overwinter these bees, that they'd do better in a smaller environment.  That sounds good but when I checked Brushy Mountain's site, this was a 10 frame nuc hive and I have an 8 frame setup.  I have to make sure that my current frames would transfer over to the new hive plus if the current frames do fit I'd have to put in two frames with bare foundation that would need to be drawn out (in addition to the frames that are already in the hive that need to be drawn out as well).  It's an uphill battle, for sure.

Do I dare have hope for this hive?

The win-win

Someone suggested to me that I share my blog with the Loudoun County Beekeepers membership.  As a first year beekeeper this idea sounds both wonderful and terrifying at the same time.  Panic, read it over, correct errors, read it again, smile, remember that it's all about learning.  Deep breath.  Jump in with both feet and don't look back.

My experiences have been different than those of my first year counterparts.  Molly did splits this year, Stephanie's hives both did well, I haven't checked in with Bonni in ages so I'm not sure how her hives are doing.  Shamefully I admit that I didn't reach out to make more friends from our class so I don't know about other people's experiences.  But I know all about my ups and downs.  And when I read past entries I'm very glad that I kept a journal.  And I'm more glad I took a lot of pictures.  In my zeal to take pictures, I probably encouraged robbing and didn't know it.  In checking my hives I probably killed the queen in the package hive in that crucial first month.  I didn't start feeding syrup to the package hive soon enough.  Robbing screens could have been put on weeks ago and maybe the package hive would have had more stored honey.

This blog was initially created to keep my non beekeeping friends and family in the loop, to get them interested in what I'm doing out here in Virginia.  I discounted the notion that what I'd write could be helpful or of interest to other people in the beekeeing world. Now it looks like I'll get to be a part of the learning process and this opportunity will open the doors to further my own learning.  It's a win-win situation.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to panic, read it over, correct errors, read it again, smile, and remember that it's all about learning.