Randy besides having a super personality you also seem like an honest guy - which is getting rarer these days. So thanks for being you and having us along. I really enjoy your videos. Stay safe and God bless.
Randy, I have some of the beetle jails. I put pollen in the bait compartment a couple of years ago but couldn’t tell if it helped. However, for filling any of the beetle traps with oil, I use a condiment squeeze bottle like you see ketchup or mustard in for making hotdogs. You can squirt oil into any of the beetle traps through the beetle entrances. The bottles comes with a pull off cap so you can keep it full and ready without it spilling. I just wanted to run that trick by you incase you haven’t seen it.
Don’t know if you’ve ever tried it before or not but those peppermints are actually good to eat too. I ate a ton of them and I didn’t have one hive beetle on me this last Christmas
I'm addicted to the soft ones.. my wife buys me the huge plastic jars of them and i keep 1 by the bedding and eat them in my sleep.. I wake up with wrappers on my chest.. my wife says I wake her up all the time rattling wrappers while I'm dead asleep
Keep putting traps in the hive AND put wood ash or D.E. in front of the hive on the ground. This breaks the life cycle in two places, it really worked for me and is what I do.
It’s been. A loong time since I’ve watched you. watching these always bring me peace. From when I was 13 to now. In the military and on deployments. Thanks man
I know it would be extreme but could you catch the queen and shake out the bees on the ground and have them walk into a new clean hive set up next to the infested one to eliminate the hive beetles?
Do you think the peppermint might be affecting the qmp so they decided to do the supersedure cell, just a thought. Also, grubex in the ground around the hive can help eliminate hive beetles. The active chemical is being researched to add to pollen Pattie’s, as it is extremely toxic to the beetle larva and hardly toxic to bee larvae good luck.
Sorry for the hive loss. On a positive note: I really liked the close-up of the brood! I also appreciate you showing the lilacs and wild flowers (primrose and lungwort?????)? :)
The bees do better in direct sunlight. I was advised by an old beekeeper years ago to keep them in full sun from about 9:00-9:30 a.m. until the sun goes down and it will keep the hive beetle population down. I am in south Louisiana which is about as hot as you can get and the bees thrive in the heat. I have very few hive beetles in my hives and I do not use traps or any treatment. You need to get them in full sun.
Stinking beetles. Last year I was doing something with the bees at night - I use plastic sheeting for "inner covers" and I was wearing a red led headlamp. Wouldn't you know - those beetles don't run at night and don't respond to the red led at all... Smash - pop - smack - crash... mussh...
Great title for the video, and I agree. Did a split last week on a hive. Came back 7 days later popped the top and there must have bee 200 beetles on the inner cover, popped the cover and the top box was slimed out and full of maggots and beetles. The only thing that saved the hive was the double screened dividing board, it kept all the beetles and maggots in the upper box. The bees absconded from that box, but the bottom box had made emergency cells and there were 10 frames of bees as well. At least I did not lose the entire hive. Great video, God's peace brother.
Thank you for sittin’ us down to talk about the nitty-gritty of beekeeping; protecting against the small hive beetle (SHB) & keepin’ hives healthy! Much appreciated. 👍
10th!! I went from seeing a bunch of beetles to almost none. They’ll be back soon enough, so I’m putting down some grub-x to keep the pupae dead. I leave them supersedures alone too. Bees know better than me…
Do the Beatles only survive in the bee nests? Can they survive on the ground? If so can you use the powered acid on the ground around the nests to kill them before they get into the box. Or can you put the bee boxes on legs and put glue on the legs to keep the Beatles from climbing thereby sticking them to the legs?❤❤❤❤
Its like you have an invasion from some where. Try the Guardian entrances. Them Guardians are a red color and the beetles cannot get in because they cannot hover. Just make sure your hives a properly sealed apart from the entrances. . Check out Daves video on them on Barn Yard Bees. Hope this info helps. Stay safe
Several years ago you introduced us to the blue top feeders from New Zealand. I keep those on all my hives all year long, even when not feeding. In summer, I leave the doors off the feeder, and the bees corral all the hive beetles up into the feeder where they can't escape back down into the hive and the beetles die there.
I'm glad the peppermint helped. I've heard good things about predatory nemeatodes. Basicallly the theory is if the critter you are trying to eradicate has part of their life cycle in the ground you can apply the nemeatodes to the ground and water them in and they prey on the animal while its in the soil. You can get them in garden catalogues. Certain types of nemeatodes work better for certain prey
I've kept bees since the 70s A few Hive beetles are nothing when just flying into a hive from afar. It's when a hive becomes dead and then cultivate thousands of pupae to get to the soil and suddenly thousands of beetles at once fly into ALL the hives when it becomes a fatal nightmare. I had a pesticide drift from a hay field that killed my hives. The beetles exploded from my soil all at once. I put down nematodes and they are unable to return in great numbers of beetles even after pesticide kills because they CANNOT become beetles. Now I see only wax moths destroy dead outs like before 99 except for occasional beetles in weak hives.
There is a lot of real promising work on beetles being done with Chlorantraniliprole the active ingredient in Scotts Grubx. Dr Lewis Burtlett from the University of Georgia has a very good RUclips on it titled, Possible new hive beetle control, I believe it's under Bob Binnie's channel, very interesting.
I have coincidentally watched a video by a German beekeeper and he also has a problem with hive beetles. He collected a lot of book scorpions (chelifer cancroides) from his barns and put those in larger numbers into his hives. I heard that you can also breed them yourself for beekeeping purposes. Maybe that’s something you could look into? Greetings from Germany! Love your videos! 😀🙌🙌🙌
well i dk about randy, but i think i might take my black light out, and see if i can catch me a few for a experiment.... or make hubby do, as thus far scorpions are about the only bug i am afraid of, that i know....
Hey Randy, Hope you get your hive beetles under control. I find the beetle traps and stiffer sheets work pretty well. They’re a pain in the arse down here in Georgia too.
Randy I had that issue 3 years ago,.I used spearmint oil mixed in crisco.put half dollar size cardboard on each corner .You are right about no less than 500 when cover was removed.
Randy , do bees take pollen from Wisteria? I watch your videos a lot. We have so much Wisteria here in my area ( Augusta Georgia) I do not have a hive. I want to educate myself about bees. They fascinate me and I love the work they do. I grow morning glories on my chain link fence that blooms in September here. Does this help with pollen for bees . I try to plant flowering plants for butterflies and bees. Any suggestions ?
How about planting peppermint around the yard? No I'm not a beekeeper . But I do everything in my yard to encourage them to come into it. I plant my yard to feed bees.
Hello, I'm a fan of your channel. But we are one of those who say that SHB don't kill hives. After using so many traps and stuff, for the last 2 years, we just use the swiffer traps, we are not claiming that it makes the hive SHB free. What I may think about, it probably depends on the genetics of the colony. I have colonies 4 boxes tall, with tons of SHB on the innercover and bottom board, bees corralled then there as they should, but I have one or two boxes colonies with just a couple of SHB, all in the same yard. I don't work with Italians. For the last 2 years, I do consider SHB a pest, but I'm not concerned anymore about them, I Focused on a nice population and the girls do the rest.
I typically don't worry much about them. Historically strong hives have dealt with the problem on their own but with the loss of these two colonies it made me more vigilant in helping to manage that particular pest.
One method I've heard about is growing mint in front or next to the hives. Bees take it in the hive themselves. I'd suggest growing in a couple gallon pots and not just the open ground because mint will take areas over if not contained.
Someone told my club president rosemary and thyme plants. I think the idea is to mask your hive smells with plant smells. I think best idea I've heard so far is a talk about a pollen patty with laced with GrubX. But that would be off-label experimentation. But when the guy is done reporting his studies I think it's just the thing to put in a CD case trap instead of Borax and Crisco.
im trying to understand the candy. its 99% sugar so the bees eat the candy and the beetles dont like it? I do understand desperation, hope its under control, now.
Very interesting video. I have two cutout hives from this spring When i did the cutout on #1 there were three beetles in the hive THAT I SAW #2 I did not see a single beetle, I have been in both hives multiple times and have not seen a beetle yet{ The boxes i put them in }The hives are about three miles apart right now After watching your video I am going to place just peppermint in the one I have at my house and one beetle trap the other hive I will only use beetle traps and keep track of the results. In all fairness I may live in a area this is not good for the shb, Last year I had a VERY weak hive and I never saw a shb. I did use the peppermint last year just to bee safe They were robbed out in late summer, I forgot the entrance reducer. I hope you have a prosperous cutout year.
Peppermint repels all kinds of bugs, it's an old wives trick, it also repels mice. If it seems to work and doesn't harm the bees then it's worth a try.
Hello Mr. Randy on the swiffer sheets I had to wedge them between the boxes because the Bee’s kept pulling them down thru the frames an damaging my wax foundation. I do not know if my beetles are less but I have a lot less now that I am using the peppermint 🤷♂️🤷♂️. On the beetle traps I have found out if you cut one side of one end of the cross bars in the traps an fold the cross bars UP you can take a water hose an was them out then fold them back down an let dry over night an REUSE . I keep extra traps so I can switch them out on a inspections . I can not afford to throw them in the trash just because they are full . As always thanks for all your information you share with us all. THANKS
Last year, I was hammered with beetles. I lost several strong hives. I'm not a big fan of the beetle jails b/c they always propolis the holes. The black beetle blasters work better for me. I also switched to diatomaceous earth in the traps.
Would be cool if you could have a way of sliding somthing in to seperate the hive and then opening. But what the hell do i know i dont have bees. Thank you
I'm planning on putting down landscaping cloth with either sand or gravel on top under the horizontal hives I'm setting up this spring to try to keep the beetles from getting established in the soil around them. I hope it helps and I don't think we have hive beetles as bad here in Missouri but, we do have them.
I’m in Florida with HB’s year round. I put landscape cloth down, spread rock salt on top of the cloth and topped it off with 57 stone. I plan on replenishing the rock salt bi monthly. Too early to see the results.
Make an entrance reducer with a 3/4 x 3/4 and drill 5 holes 5/8 inches in a ten frame. Take a 2 inch piece of 1/2 red pex pipe and put in each 5/8 hole. Leave it flush on the inside of the hive side of the entrance reducer. The hive beetles can get out of the hive but not back into the hive. It takes the bees a couple of days to get used to it but they do well with it. My brother in law did it last year and has no hive beetles. I’m using it on my hives this year. Hope this helps.
I use all screened bottom boards. I have no beetles and seem to have little issues with mites. Not sure if that is why or not here in WV. But what happens to the peppermints? Do the bees consume it or the beetles? Is it just the smell that drives the beetles away maybe ? LOL
We use a lot of screened and plastic vented bottoms. Hive beetles are just worse the farther south you get. The bees consume the peppermints and something in peppermint repels the beetles it appears. Jury is still out on exactly what is going on.
I was thinking if the smell repelled the beetles you would want to keep the mints in the hive. So maybe it would be good to put the mints in some kind of cage@@628DirtRooster
Jeff Willard has a video from a few years ago about "Super Honey Bee Healthy". Besides lemongrass and spearmint, he adds about 10 other essential oils including peppermint. The bees love it and it seems to help.
Will making the bee box's out of Cedar help with the control of hive beadles? And will bee's make there hive's in Cedar bee box's? Love your vid my friend 👍❤️
Randy, I’ve got one yard that tends to be very wet and thusly lots of hive beetles , yet my bees produce great honey at this yard . I began experimenting with the hard peppermints and after having two strong hives abscond because of too many beetles the yard is now under control. I place 4 peppermints every two weeks and between the swiffer sheets and peppermints I’m sold on their effectiveness, hope you continue to see the same results too ! Thanks for your great videos !
I used peppermint oil in mine. I’m not sure if it’s work or not.i haven’t been in them again. I’m in Missouri. Love your videos. Helped me a lot learning about bees. I love to trapping and removing from buildings and trees. You all on UTUBE created a monster along with my friend that is coaching me.
Great to hear Randy that you're doing your best to manage SHBs (small hive beetles) not sure how the treatment free beekeeping community will feel about your decision though.
I don't know why YT didn't show me this video before now. But I live in similar temps to you. Just a thought. Here we keep insect attacks down by planting a clove of garlic, next to the infected area, and let it grow. Lavender, mint/spearmint plants and ground up cinnamon also seems to work on some types. But I don't know, if it would work on hive beetles 🤷♀️ I know, it doesn't affect the bees, as I have plenty visiting... but it might be worth planting something near the hives?
That’s gut-wrenching. I like the thoughts of living somewhere warmer, but we almost never have to deal with beetles. Might see 30-40 in a whole year. Neighbor had plywood over a metal barrel and a swarm build inside on the plywood. I went to box them and there was like 20 bees on the combs. Beetles everywhere and 2” of beetle larvae in the bottom. Looked like Indiana Jones and the snakes only worst. I stomped, looked for gas or whatever, determined to kill them. More beetles than I’ll see in a lifetime hopefully. In trees around here there will be a few 100. Bees seem to keep them in check, ... until they don’t. They totally disgust me sliming over beautiful comb and weaving in and out of capped frames. Thankfully it’s rare. Keep up the good fight Brother! 👍🐝😃
I saw a couple of ideas on RUclips about controlling these beetles. Nature's Image Farm- Greg Burns makes a paste called murder sauce and the other South Florida beekeeping with Rich uses Scott's Grub EX. Since you have chickens not be able to use the Scott's.
Interesting about soft mints, I've tried every method but that one. I'll give you a list of the methods I believe have seem to resolved my beetle issues to God Almighty be the glory....PRAYER was the best first step. Then: cut off all landing pads, bees don't need them, hive beetles do. Bees can hover and go straight in and out, mine seem to be more productive that way too.:2nd any hives close to woods or in shade was a disaster for me 3yr. Ago. Hive beetles hate the sun. I thought it was learning how to equalize hive and keep them strong was the answer, but you just debunked that. I guess the main method was cutting off the landing board.and make sure your boxes are tight, vynal tape works good to temporarily seal any holes until you can repair boxes.i also put a plastic poly down and cover with gravel, beetles need dirt for larvae to reproduce
The weather must have been really good for the beetles to grow in the soil. Also if someone in the area has not been taking steps to prevent the beetles, they will have created a massive problem for your hives. Looks like most of your beetles are adults, and could have just arrived from another apiary/hive that had a population explosion.
I think they may be using the Peppermint to disguise the scent of their brood. Like gardener's use herbs to mask tomatoes 🤔 I asked gunline Bees if he noticed a smell in the wax or a different taste to honey. He replied not really but he thought he saw signs of Peppermint around the brood areas. I will get my first Bees next week and I already have lots of Peppermints mostly because the Peppermint puffs are my favorite for upset tummies and just for fun. I would love to read a study on the Bees use of the Peppermint and what they use for mosquitoes 😉 Belated sorry for your loss.
I have concentrated peppermint oil I got in fall for my house to keep mice out, wondering if I stay the hive stand (really strong, wouldn’t do the hive entrance), if would prevent beetles?
My question is if you've located the queen but you have an emergency Queen cell do you do the split using the frame with the queen hivecell and take a couple of other frames with it or do you move the establish queen and a couple of the frames with her? could you explain how you would do the split I'm a beginning beekeeper and I'm interested in knowing how you would proceed with the situation thank you
Randy, There are folks here in Texas that mix 7 cups vinegar, 7 cups of pool salt and 1 gallon of water and they spray or saturate the ground at night with that mixture under the hives to change the pH of the ground where the hive beetles pupate. I have not tried it but a commercial beekeeper in our area says it is very effective.
If you can't find the queen, there are emergency queen cells, and half your bees are gone.... wouldn't that mean the queen took half the hive with her and absconded? And the bees that were left behind are trying to grow a new queen asap?
Randy I have had good luck with the peppermint but have not tried the soft ones. Seems they would work better cause bees can get to them faster. Also look on Greg Burns channel and get the recipe for what he calls Small Hive Beatle Murder Sauce. It kills them dead and bees are not attracted to it. You put it down on the bottom board. Good luck cause you they get worse later in summer.
If the peppermints have a positive effect, try some peppermint oil. I think that peppermint oil is soluble in wax. Maybe wax the foundations with peppermint-oil laced wax? Try a few frames and throw a colony into it.
Do the beetles eat the peppermint’s? I’m trying this year with a drop of peppermint oil on a q-tip tip. I also caulk the inside joints to reduce hiding spots. I am trying out a different idea this year and if it works I’ll let you know.
I use perming essinial oils I put about 8 drops on 3 inch strips of cardboard and hang it over the frames. It works good for me I don’t have any more problems with them.
First let me thank you for being so honest I know we’ve talked about peppermint my biggest issue is hive notes and records back in the states for a few more months blessings to you and your family say hello to Dad as well
I have 6 hives in my yard in west central florida. i have been lazy this past year but just did spring checks on my hives and realized i have not seen on smb. Maybe too early for them here so not sure. in past summers they were a disaster for me killing several hives. I'll try the new shb jails you used and also the pepermints to try to prevent a problem from starting. thanks for the information.
My chemistry teacher and computer science teacher in high school figured out a way to keep oil and water from separating, for mint oil to treat mites. Comp science teacher had bees.
With the peppermints, What about they stops the beetles? the smell in the hive or it in the bees themselves after eating them. I wander if the honey will have a peppermint taste to it if you feed them in the honey flow.
To keep those genetics I'd have probably pulled that queen cell frame (and frames of bees and brood from other hives) and made up a real strong nuc. That way if that queen flew the coop I'd have a back up to replace her with. Will be interesting to see how yours plays out. Keep us posted! That queen sure didn't look old (no tattered wings).
Sorry you lost bees. It's about time a few bigger bee guys have figured out that shb can and do kill out big hives. I about quit keeping bees because of the damn things.
Randy besides having a super personality you also seem like an honest guy - which is getting rarer these days. So thanks for being you and having us along. I really enjoy your videos. Stay safe and God bless.
Thanks so much Gitatit4046
Randy, I have some of the beetle jails. I put pollen in the bait compartment a couple of years ago but couldn’t tell if it helped. However, for filling any of the beetle traps with oil, I use a condiment squeeze bottle like you see ketchup or mustard in for making hotdogs. You can squirt oil into any of the beetle traps through the beetle entrances. The bottles comes with a pull off cap so you can keep it full and ready without it spilling. I just wanted to run that trick by you incase you haven’t seen it.
Ever try beneficial nematodes? In Georgia I finally resorted to that.
@@nailladi1 fukin nematode.... Just a made up word. A politician's wod
😢😢
Have you ever tried combat roach killer in bettle traps? Sounds weird but it works
Don’t know if you’ve ever tried it before or not but those peppermints are actually good to eat too. I ate a ton of them and I didn’t have one hive beetle on me this last Christmas
I'm addicted to the soft ones.. my wife buys me the huge plastic jars of them and i keep 1 by the bedding and eat them in my sleep.. I wake up with wrappers on my chest.. my wife says I wake her up all the time rattling wrappers while I'm dead asleep
I know it's hive beetle season when I find one crawling on me in the after inspection trip to Walmart
This is also a motivation to buy peppermints. I will be sure to buy the soft ones as well because they taste better
I bait mine with queen candy in the middle bait section, works wonders.
Have you ever considered planting peppermint plants in your bee yards? It might be an interesting test
I am trying this also thyme and oregano to keep mites away😊
Peppermint essential oils is recommended too
Keep putting traps in the hive AND put wood ash or D.E. in front of the hive on the ground. This breaks the life cycle in two places, it really worked for me and is what I do.
Yeah ok. DE? Damm lingo.
@@one8088 Diatomaceous earth
What kind of wood ash? Any kind?
@@jbnnm657 i use the ash from my fireplace.
It’s been. A loong time since I’ve watched you. watching these always bring me peace. From when I was 13 to now. In the military and on deployments. Thanks man
I'm taking notes just in case those beetle juice jerks make their way to my apiary someday! (';')
I know it would be extreme but could you catch the queen and shake out the bees on the ground and have them walk into a new clean hive set up next to the infested one to eliminate the hive beetles?
Do you think the peppermint might be affecting the qmp so they decided to do the supersedure cell, just a thought. Also, grubex in the ground around the hive can help eliminate hive beetles. The active chemical is being researched to add to pollen Pattie’s, as it is extremely toxic to the beetle larva and hardly toxic to bee larvae good luck.
Sorry for the hive loss. On a positive note: I really liked the close-up of the brood! I also appreciate you showing the lilacs and wild flowers (primrose and lungwort?????)? :)
The bees do better in direct sunlight. I was advised by an old beekeeper years ago to keep them in full sun from about 9:00-9:30 a.m. until the sun goes down and it will keep the hive beetle population down. I am in south Louisiana which is about as hot as you can get and the bees thrive in the heat. I have very few hive beetles in my hives and I do not use traps or any treatment. You need to get them in full sun.
Theres lots ofhives kept in full CA sun.....no idea how it effects them, but theyre out there.
Stinking beetles. Last year I was doing something with the bees at night - I use plastic sheeting for "inner covers" and I was wearing a red led headlamp. Wouldn't you know - those beetles don't run at night and don't respond to the red led at all...
Smash - pop - smack - crash... mussh...
Great title for the video, and I agree. Did a split last week on a hive. Came back 7 days later popped the top and there must have bee 200 beetles on the inner cover, popped the cover and the top box was slimed out and full of maggots and beetles. The only thing that saved the hive was the double screened dividing board, it kept all the beetles and maggots in the upper box. The bees absconded from that box, but the bottom box had made emergency cells and there were 10 frames of bees as well. At least I did not lose the entire hive. Great video, God's peace brother.
Those double screen boards are the most handy thing!
Thank you for sittin’ us down to talk about the nitty-gritty of beekeeping; protecting against the small hive beetle (SHB) & keepin’ hives healthy! Much appreciated. 👍
10th!! I went from seeing a bunch of beetles to almost none. They’ll be back soon enough, so I’m putting down some grub-x to keep the pupae dead. I leave them supersedures alone too. Bees know better than me…
It is so enjoyable to watch how the bees work together. Don't you wish humans did that too? Love your videos.
I guess you cant have original Thought, and 100% co-operation in one kind of being.
Peppermint worked for me. I will keep dropping them in every week or so to keep them in check.
Do the Beatles only survive in the bee nests? Can they survive on the ground? If so can you use the powered acid on the ground around the nests to kill them before they get into the box. Or can you put the bee boxes on legs and put glue on the legs to keep the Beatles from climbing thereby sticking them to the legs?❤❤❤❤
Its like you have an invasion from some where. Try the Guardian entrances. Them Guardians are a red color and the beetles cannot get in because they cannot hover. Just make sure your hives a properly sealed apart from the entrances. . Check out Daves video on them on Barn Yard Bees. Hope this info helps. Stay safe
At 7:32, after seeing that Queen, I must say that she is a BEAUTIFUL color! Carniolan????
Have you seen the work re GrubX and beetle prevention? I’m trying this year
Several years ago you introduced us to the blue top feeders from New Zealand. I keep those on all my hives all year long, even when not feeding. In summer, I leave the doors off the feeder, and the bees corral all the hive beetles up into the feeder where they can't escape back down into the hive and the beetles die there.
They are some durable feeders. I need to buy me some more.
I'm glad the peppermint helped. I've heard good things about predatory nemeatodes. Basicallly the theory is if the critter you are trying to eradicate has part of their life cycle in the ground you can apply the nemeatodes to the ground and water them in and they prey on the animal while its in the soil. You can get them in garden catalogues. Certain types of nemeatodes work better for certain prey
you want to break the cycle way before the stage they are in the gound
@@UltFrizz Yes, but this is why one yard is repeatedly infested. Best to have several attack vectors. Ipm
I've kept bees since the 70s A few Hive beetles are nothing when just flying into a hive from afar. It's when a hive becomes dead and then cultivate thousands of pupae to get to the soil and suddenly thousands of beetles at once fly into ALL the hives when it becomes a fatal nightmare. I had a pesticide drift from a hay field that killed my hives. The beetles exploded from my soil all at once. I put down nematodes and they are unable to return in great numbers of beetles even after pesticide kills because they CANNOT become beetles. Now I see only wax moths destroy dead outs like before 99 except for occasional beetles in weak hives.
Ive found out that oilbase baseboards have worked great for my hives it catches beetles before they get up in hive.
I quit using them a while back. We get up to 100 hives during the season. Oil tray bottoms are awesome when you only have a hand full of hives.
There is a lot of real promising work on beetles being done with Chlorantraniliprole the active ingredient in Scotts Grubx. Dr Lewis Burtlett from the University of Georgia has a very good RUclips on it titled, Possible new hive beetle control, I believe it's under Bob Binnie's channel, very interesting.
I have coincidentally watched a video by a German beekeeper and he also has a problem with hive beetles. He collected a lot of book scorpions (chelifer cancroides) from his barns and put those in larger numbers into his hives. I heard that you can also breed them yourself for beekeeping purposes. Maybe that’s something you could look into? Greetings from Germany! Love your videos! 😀🙌🙌🙌
well i dk about randy, but i think i might take my black light out, and see if i can catch me a few for a experiment.... or make hubby do, as thus far scorpions are about the only bug i am afraid of, that i know....
Tiny Pseudo scorpion bug that does clean pests from beehives. Is that correct? Old timers used them in their beehives. Thx
@@bluekatgal7300 That’s what I understand. These aren‘t real scorpions. They just look like tiny scorpions. They prey on mites and larvae beetles
@@stephaniavanvolkenburg5424 These aren‘t real scorpions; they just look like ‘em. 😊 I heard that they are extremely effective in beehives
Hey Randy,
Hope you get your hive beetles under control. I find the beetle traps and stiffer sheets work pretty well. They’re a pain in the arse down here in Georgia too.
The peppermints have helped with my SHB issues. I don't put them in a often as I probably should. But still helps just having some in there
Mineral oil doesn't either
I’ve used the “restaurant towel” Dine O Max off Amazon . About 1/8 of a sheet. It works great. No SHB so far this year. Knock on wood.
Those towels do work well
Randy I had that issue 3 years ago,.I used spearmint oil mixed in crisco.put half dollar size cardboard on each corner
.You are right about no less than 500 when cover was removed.
I put the hard candy in my winter candy board with the pollen and sugar . Checked the candy boards and zero beetles were found.
Love the experiments.
The beetles are the worst we have ever seen here in Australia this past Summer.
Hope they aren’t so bad this year.
You should be able to grow peppermint really well around your boxes!
Randy , do bees take pollen from Wisteria? I watch your videos a lot. We have so much Wisteria here in my area ( Augusta Georgia) I do not have a hive. I want to educate myself about bees. They fascinate me and I love the work they do. I grow morning glories on my chain link fence that blooms in September here. Does this help with pollen for bees . I try to plant flowering plants for butterflies and bees. Any suggestions ?
They do work wisteria for pollen and nectar. Butterfly bush is a good one.
FYI, grape seed oil doesn't go rancid like vegetable oil does. So if you don't get the oil changed right away, it won't matter.
same is true of mineral oil.
How about planting peppermint around the yard? No I'm not a beekeeper . But I do everything in my yard to encourage them to come into it. I plant my yard to feed bees.
There's about a 200 square foot patch of it in the apiary.
Hello, I'm a fan of your channel. But we are one of those who say that SHB don't kill hives. After using so many traps and stuff, for the last 2 years, we just use the swiffer traps, we are not claiming that it makes the hive SHB free. What I may think about, it probably depends on the genetics of the colony. I have colonies 4 boxes tall, with tons of SHB on the innercover and bottom board, bees corralled then there as they should, but I have one or two boxes colonies with just a couple of SHB, all in the same yard. I don't work with Italians. For the last 2 years, I do consider SHB a pest, but I'm not concerned anymore about them, I Focused on a nice population and the girls do the rest.
I typically don't worry much about them. Historically strong hives have dealt with the problem on their own but with the loss of these two colonies it made me more vigilant in helping to manage that particular pest.
Very sorry to hear about your hives. You ought to get with speak with Jeff Horchoff, he knows what he's doing.
I'll do that. Thanks
One method I've heard about is growing mint in front or next to the hives. Bees take it in the hive themselves. I'd suggest growing in a couple gallon pots and not just the open ground because mint will take areas over if not contained.
Someone told my club president rosemary and thyme plants. I think the idea is to mask your hive smells with plant smells. I think best idea I've heard so far is a talk about a pollen patty with laced with GrubX. But that would be off-label experimentation. But when the guy is done reporting his studies I think it's just the thing to put in a CD case trap instead of Borax and Crisco.
im trying to understand the candy. its 99% sugar so the bees eat the candy and the beetles dont like it? I do understand desperation, hope its under control, now.
The thought is that the little bit of peppermint oil in the candy is just enough to repel beetles.
That is crazy. I guess i'm lucky that I don't see SHB like that in NE Ohio.
I hope you are alright down there and didn’t get any of those tornados. -Bill
They missed us.
i use old conveyor belting to make floors for my bee yard. seems to help a lot. ill try the peppermint too this year and see how it goes.
Very interesting video. I have two cutout hives from this spring When i did the cutout on #1 there were three beetles in the hive THAT I SAW #2 I did not see a single beetle, I have been in both hives multiple times and have not seen a beetle yet{ The boxes i put them in }The hives are about three miles apart right now After watching your video I am going to place just peppermint in the one I have at my house and one beetle trap the other hive I will only use beetle traps and keep track of the results. In all fairness I may live in a area this is not good for the shb,
Last year I had a VERY weak hive and I never saw a shb. I did use the peppermint last year just to bee safe They were robbed out in late summer, I forgot the entrance reducer.
I hope you have a prosperous cutout year.
Regular hydrated garden lime powder works awesome in those between frame traps
Good to know!
Peppermint repels all kinds of bugs, it's an old wives trick, it also repels mice. If it seems to work and doesn't harm the bees then it's worth a try.
Try the Guardian Hive Entrances. I put them on my hives and they made a big difference with the beetle population.
Nice video. Thank you so much. 😊
Most welcome 😊
Hello Mr. Randy on the swiffer sheets I had to wedge them between the boxes because the Bee’s kept pulling them down thru the frames an damaging my wax foundation. I do not know if my beetles are less but I have a lot less now that I am using the peppermint 🤷♂️🤷♂️. On the beetle traps I have found out if you cut one side of one end of the cross bars in the traps an fold the cross bars UP you can take a water hose an was them out then fold them back down an let dry over night an REUSE . I keep extra traps so I can switch them out on a inspections . I can not afford to throw them in the trash just because they are full . As always thanks for all your information you share with us all. THANKS
Last year, I was hammered with beetles. I lost several strong hives. I'm not a big fan of the beetle jails b/c they always propolis the holes. The black beetle blasters work better for me. I also switched to diatomaceous earth in the traps.
Grubex or similar grub killer applied on the ground may help.
Our chickens free range so I’m careful about what I put out.
That hillbilly beekeeper bee knowing some stuff!!
He’s a pretty smart fella
So does the peppermint kill the hive beetles or does it just send them out of the hive.
Doesn't kill them.
Would be cool if you could have a way of sliding somthing in to seperate the hive and then opening.
But what the hell do i know i dont have bees. Thank you
Not too sure about the lighted smoker in one hand and the gas can in the other . . .
That’s when you don’t know whether to grow your business or burn it down.
I dunno🤷♂️ I always thank bee folks, farmers, rancher, hunter, gardeners, gathers. I ate 🙏🏻💪
Has anyone tried planting peppermint plants around the hive?
I'm sure someone has done it but I haven't incorporated that yet.
I'm planning on putting down landscaping cloth with either sand or gravel on top under the horizontal hives I'm setting up this spring to try to keep the beetles from getting established in the soil around them. I hope it helps and I don't think we have hive beetles as bad here in Missouri but, we do have them.
I’m in Florida with HB’s year round. I put landscape cloth down, spread rock salt on top of the cloth and topped it off with 57 stone. I plan on replenishing the rock salt bi monthly. Too early to see the results.
Make an entrance reducer with a 3/4 x 3/4 and drill 5 holes 5/8 inches in a ten frame. Take a 2 inch piece of 1/2 red pex pipe and put in each 5/8 hole. Leave it flush on the inside of the hive side of the entrance reducer. The hive beetles can get out of the hive but not back into the hive. It takes the bees a couple of days to get used to it but they do well with it. My brother in law did it last year and has no hive beetles. I’m using it on my hives this year. Hope this helps.
Please send me a picture of the things you are talking about here
@@danielledills1922 it won’t let me post a picture of the entrance reducer
I use all screened bottom boards. I have no beetles and seem to have little issues with mites. Not sure if that is why or not here in WV. But what happens to the peppermints? Do the bees consume it or the beetles? Is it just the smell that drives the beetles away maybe ? LOL
We use a lot of screened and plastic vented bottoms. Hive beetles are just worse the farther south you get. The bees consume the peppermints and something in peppermint repels the beetles it appears. Jury is still out on exactly what is going on.
I was thinking if the smell repelled the beetles you would want to keep the mints in the hive. So maybe it would be good to put the mints in some kind of cage@@628DirtRooster
I started adding peppermint oil to my feed, and that seems to work great.
Jeff Willard has a video from a few years ago about "Super Honey Bee Healthy". Besides lemongrass and spearmint, he adds about 10 other essential oils including peppermint. The bees love it and it seems to help.
Will making the bee box's out of Cedar help with the control of hive beadles? And will bee's make there hive's in Cedar bee box's? Love your vid my friend 👍❤️
I have taken a queen out of a hive they where building queen cells in and just put her in a different hive. I think they did good I can remember
Yep, it's called a false swarm. Makes them think they already swarmed and they go back to work.
Randy, I’ve got one yard that tends to be very wet and thusly lots of hive beetles , yet my bees produce great honey at this yard . I began experimenting with the hard peppermints and after having two strong hives abscond because of too many beetles the yard is now under control. I place 4 peppermints every two weeks and between the swiffer sheets and peppermints I’m sold on their effectiveness, hope you continue to see the same results too !
Thanks for your great videos !
I used peppermint oil in mine. I’m not sure if it’s work or not.i haven’t been in them again. I’m in Missouri. Love your videos. Helped me a lot learning about bees. I love to trapping and removing from buildings and trees. You all on UTUBE created a monster along with my friend that is coaching me.
Great to hear Randy that you're doing your best to manage SHBs (small hive beetles) not sure how the treatment free beekeeping community will feel about your decision though.
So glad I don't have to deal with those horrible little things >.
Yes, be thankful.
I don't know why YT didn't show me this video before now.
But I live in similar temps to you. Just a thought. Here we keep insect attacks down by planting a clove of garlic, next to the infected area, and let it grow. Lavender, mint/spearmint plants and ground up cinnamon also seems to work on some types. But I don't know, if it would work on hive beetles 🤷♀️ I know, it doesn't affect the bees, as I have plenty visiting... but it might be worth planting something near the hives?
That’s gut-wrenching. I like the thoughts of living somewhere warmer, but we almost never have to deal with beetles. Might see 30-40 in a whole year. Neighbor had plywood over a metal barrel and a swarm build inside on the plywood.
I went to box them and there was like 20 bees on the combs. Beetles everywhere and 2” of beetle larvae in the bottom. Looked like Indiana Jones and the snakes only worst. I stomped, looked for gas or whatever, determined to kill them. More beetles than I’ll see in a lifetime hopefully.
In trees around here there will be a few 100. Bees seem to keep them in check, ... until they don’t. They totally disgust me sliming over beautiful comb and weaving in and out of capped frames. Thankfully it’s rare. Keep up the good fight Brother! 👍🐝😃
I saw a couple of ideas on RUclips about controlling these beetles. Nature's Image Farm- Greg Burns makes a paste called murder sauce and the other South Florida beekeeping with Rich uses Scott's Grub EX. Since you have chickens not be able to use the Scott's.
Interesting about soft mints, I've tried every method but that one. I'll give you a list of the methods I believe have seem to resolved my beetle issues to God Almighty be the glory....PRAYER was the best first step. Then: cut off all landing pads, bees don't need them, hive beetles do. Bees can hover and go straight in and out, mine seem to be more productive that way too.:2nd any hives close to woods or in shade was a disaster for me 3yr. Ago. Hive beetles hate the sun. I thought it was learning how to equalize hive and keep them strong was the answer, but you just debunked that. I guess the main method was cutting off the landing board.and make sure your boxes are tight, vynal tape works good to temporarily seal any holes until you can repair boxes.i also put a plastic poly down and cover with gravel, beetles need dirt for larvae to reproduce
Have you tried treating the soil around your hives with a grub insecticide?
I don’t use pesticides on the ground because our chickens free range.
The weather must have been really good for the beetles to grow in the soil. Also if someone in the area has not been taking steps to prevent the beetles, they will have created a massive problem for your hives. Looks like most of your beetles are adults, and could have just arrived from another apiary/hive that had a population explosion.
Sorry, didn’t watch to the end before I posted my question. I’m still curious as to why the peppermints work…
Now I want a peppermint candy:)
Hey my friend! Where you been? I checked your channel a while back to see if you were coming out of retirement yet.
@@628DirtRooster I'll be 76 in a few days and when I go to make a video I forget why I turned the camera on :)
I think they may be using the Peppermint to disguise the scent of their brood. Like gardener's use herbs to mask tomatoes 🤔 I asked gunline Bees if he noticed a smell in the wax or a different taste to honey. He replied not really but he thought he saw signs of Peppermint around the brood areas. I will get my first Bees next week and I already have lots of Peppermints mostly because the Peppermint puffs are my favorite for upset tummies and just for fun. I would love to read a study on the Bees use of the Peppermint and what they use for mosquitoes 😉
Belated sorry for your loss.
I have concentrated peppermint oil I got in fall for my house to keep mice out, wondering if I stay the hive stand (really strong, wouldn’t do the hive entrance), if would prevent beetles?
My question is if you've located the queen but you have an emergency Queen cell do you do the split using the frame with the queen hivecell and take a couple of other frames with it or do you move the establish queen and a couple of the frames with her? could you explain how you would do the split I'm a beginning beekeeper and I'm interested in knowing how you would proceed with the situation thank you
Randy, There are folks here in Texas that mix 7 cups vinegar, 7 cups of pool salt and 1 gallon of water and they spray or saturate the ground at night with that mixture under the hives to change the pH of the ground where the hive beetles pupate. I have not tried it but a commercial beekeeper in our area says it is very effective.
If you can't find the queen, there are emergency queen cells, and half your bees are gone.... wouldn't that mean the queen took half the hive with her and absconded? And the bees that were left behind are trying to grow a new queen asap?
Randy I have had good luck with the peppermint but have not tried the soft ones. Seems they would work better cause bees can get to them faster. Also look on Greg Burns channel and get the recipe for what he calls Small Hive Beatle Murder Sauce. It kills them dead and bees are not attracted to it. You put it down on the bottom board. Good luck cause you they get worse later in summer.
If the peppermints have a positive effect, try some peppermint oil. I think that peppermint oil is soluble in wax. Maybe wax the foundations with peppermint-oil laced wax? Try a few frames and throw a colony into it.
Do the beetles eat the peppermint’s? I’m trying this year with a drop of peppermint oil on a q-tip tip. I also caulk the inside joints to reduce hiding spots. I am trying out a different idea this year and if it works I’ll let you know.
The bees eat the peppermints. The beetles seem to want nothing to do with them.
@@628DirtRooster ok thanks, guess the stinky beetles don’t like minty fresh bee breath.🐲
@@628DirtRooster something else to note is that peppermint is a natural mouse repellent so drop a few in late fall as a double whammy.
I use perming essinial oils I put about 8 drops on 3 inch strips of cardboard and hang it over the frames. It works good for me I don’t have any more problems with them.
First let me thank you for being so honest I know we’ve talked about peppermint my biggest issue is hive notes and records back in the states for a few more months blessings to you and your family say hello to Dad as well
I have 6 hives in my yard in west central florida. i have been lazy this past year but just did spring checks on my hives and realized i have not seen on smb. Maybe too early for them here so not sure. in past summers they were a disaster for me killing several hives. I'll try the new shb jails you used and also the pepermints to try to prevent a problem from starting. thanks for the information.
My chemistry teacher and computer science teacher in high school figured out a way to keep oil and water from separating, for mint oil to treat mites. Comp science teacher had bees.
With the peppermints, What about they stops the beetles? the smell in the hive or it in the bees themselves after eating them. I wander if the honey will have a peppermint taste to it if you feed them in the honey flow.
mix powdered shungite into paint, paint the hives with it
your bees will exponentially increase
I've had the same issue I north alabama
They put up a good fight.
Didn't you film this beetles problem or some photos i would like to see what you're talking about i find this interesting and im curious 😉
I don't like spiders I hate carpenter ants and peppermint works beautifully to keep them both out of my room
To keep those genetics I'd have probably pulled that queen cell frame (and frames of bees and brood from other hives) and made up a real strong nuc. That way if that queen flew the coop I'd have a back up to replace her with. Will be interesting to see how yours plays out. Keep us posted! That queen sure didn't look old (no tattered wings).
Not a liar when ya tell the truth. Try smack me down if I got your back. 🙏🏻💪
Peppermints work! In Texas as well.
And they taste good too. Haha
Have you ever tried peppermint oil?
Not yet
I live true mile hi 👋🏼. Got the WHY out. Got high pollen stuff out. 😊
I lost 2, 3 stack hives to those destructive beggars. Try swifter dryer sheets.
Sorry you lost bees. It's about time a few bigger bee guys have figured out that shb can and do kill out big hives. I about quit keeping bees because of the damn things.
Won't the bee's eat the peppermint? Would it change the taste of the honey? Where/how do the bees get the wax for the comb?
I only use a swifter pad and I put 4 hard candy peppermint 1 on each corner and last year I seen 5 hive Beatles all season.. they work