DEALING WITH HIVE BEETLES
By Jerry Freeman
Phone:
870-853-2412
E-mail: jfreeman1944@yahoo.com
Web Site: http://freemanbeetletrap.com
A few years ago, several of my buddies retired about the same time I did. Some of them decided
to get bee hives to have local honey. Knowing I used to keep bees, they came to me complaining
that their bees were dying and were certainly not making any honey. They were ready to give up.
I assured them there was nothing to it – I’d have everything straightened out in short order. The
problem was I had been away from beekeeping over 20 years. Back in the 1970’s I kept 25 to 30
hives for honey production and raised queens for a commercial beekeeper. Back then,
beekeeping was easy and fun! I had NOT stayed abreast of the beekeeping industry.
I started going through their hives to see what needed to be done. The changes were shocking! I
had vaguely heard of Varroa mites, but had no idea what hive beetles were. I had to re-learn how
to keep bees. I quickly discovered that beekeeping is practically impossible today if beetles and
mites cannot be controlled.
I began a crash course in beekeeping by first ordering Bee Culture and the American Bee Journal
magazines. I also printed stacks of current information from the internet, focusing on beetles and
mites. I ordered and tried every trap and chemical on the market. OK, we learned how to keep a
hive alive, but we could not get them to thrive. Without strong, healthy hives there would be no
surplus honey. I set up two experimental hives in my backyard to see if there was any solution.
Apistan and/or Checkmite kept the Varroa mites at bay, but I was not satisfied using such harsh
(toxic) chemicals in the hives. Besides, counting mites on a sticky board was a pain. I’ll talk
about Varroa mites in another article. The real nightmare was hive beetles.
To help reduce the number of
Adult Beetle
beetles it is commonly
recommended that:
 We keep our beeyards clean
so beetles are not attracted to
bits of wax and honey.
 We keep our hives in open
areas with full sun – beetles
prefer dark shady areas.
 We maintain strong colonies
with enough bees to cover all the combs in the hive.
Beetles on Top Cover
Hive beetles can fly several miles and have spread across the country, especially in the southern
states. Beetles are also spread by migratory beekeeping and package bee sales. Beetles have been
known to feed and reproduce on various fruits and melons, but honey bee hives are their favorite
home and source of food. Some areas are more heavily infested than others. Our area in
southeast Arkansas seems to be overrun with beetles. Beetles were killing our hives! With a lot
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of study, observation and many trials and errors, we finally put together enough information to
be able to successfully deal with hive beetles. We had to develop our own trap, but more about
that later. First I want to explain what happens with the bees and the beetles inside our beehives.
Hive Beetle Life Cycle in the Beehive
Let’s assume you have a ‘clean’ hive with no beetles. As the beetles spread across the country,
they eventually come into your area. Beetles can literally smell a beehive and before long a few
of them find your beeyard and fly right into the front entrance of your hives. This is not a
problem if you have strong hives.
Honey bees chase the beetles but cannot kill them because of their hard shell. I have no
documentation, but I believe the hygienic bees chase the beetles more actively than others. They
are surely more effective at carrying out most of the eggs a few beetles might lay.
Unfortunately, a few eggs manage to hatch into larvae. The time required for beetle eggs to hatch
depends upon the temperature and humidity. In cool, dry weather it may take several days for
beetle eggs to hatch. In warm, humid weather the eggs can hatch in about a day and a half!
Clumps of Hive Beetle Larvae
Forked Tail
Hive Beetle Larva about 1/2 inch long
Plain head
Soon after hatching, the beetle larvae begin to crawl through the hive eating honey, pollen, brood
and who knows what else. The problem is that the larvae ‘poop’ almost continuously. The ‘poop’
causes the honey to ferment, swell and run out of the combs. The combs are ‘slimed’ and smell
bad. The queen quits laying and the bees leave the hive. Even robber bees will not bother the
‘slimed’ combs.
It is the beetle larvae that damage the combs, ferment the honey and kill the hives!!
As the larvae mature in about a week or ten days, they are attracted to light, crawl to the hive
entrance, drop to the ground and bore a few inches into the soil to pupate. They emerge as adults
and look for a hive to claim as home. Beetles cannot reproduce in cold weather because they
cannot pupate in the ground. The adults spend the winter in the bee cluster!
Strong colonies are able to disrupt the normal reproduction cycle of the beetles. When dealing
with hive beetles, we have to define a strong colony as one that has enough bees to cover 80% of
every frame in the hive. This ‘bees to combs’ ratio is critical when dealing with beetles. When
you remove the hive cover, look down at the spaces between the combs. If there are not any bees
or only a few bees in the outside spaces and on the hive body walls, the beetles have a place to
hide and reproduce.
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A strong colony of bees can survive and even thrive with a
large number of the black, adult beetles in the hive. MOST
of the time, such a strong colony is able to keep the adults
literally herded into groups throughout the hive. Dr.
Collison at Mississippi State compares it to keeping the
beetles ‘in jail’. As long as the adults do not mate, lay eggs
and produce larvae, little damage will be done. I don’t
know if the bees carry the beetle eggs out or if they don’t
allow them to mate. The key is not allowing the production
Beetles in ‘Jail’
of larvae. This is why we sometimes see a strong, healthy
hive loaded with adult beetles but no apparent damage.
The bees are keeping the beetles ‘in jail’. Remember, it is the beetle larvae that kill our hives.
What happens to the bees to combs ratio during the honey flow? Honey supers create more
space than the bees can patrol. A good queen can produce enough bees to protect two deep hive
bodies. A colony with hygienic traits that also chases beetles vigorously might also be able to
protect one medium super - but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Here’s what happens when we open a hive for inspection -- maybe to see if the honey is capped
and ready for extraction. Sunlight, disturbance and smoke causes chaos among the bees –
including the ones guarding the ‘beetle jails’. In the confusion, the beetles get out of jail and
scatter. If there are several honey supers on the hive, there are not enough bees to get all the
beetles herded back into jail. Beetles can lay over a 100 eggs a day so it only takes a few adults
to produce enough larvae to kill a hive. The beetle reproduction cycle is accelerated in warm,
humid weather.
HIVE BEETLE NIGHTMARE
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Saturday AM – Beekeeper checks the hive and finds the honey is not capped; put the hive
back together. In the confusion, the beetles scatter and begin laying eggs.
Monday AM – Beetle larvae are already hatching.
Tuesday AM – Beetle larvae are crawling through the combs and ‘pooping’.
Thursday AM – The honey begins to ferment
Saturday AM – Beekeeper checks the hive again and finds the honey crop ruined!
Every time I make a presentation to a group of beekeepers, one or more of them have had this
happen and did not understand why. When opening a hive with honey supers on, we must have
an action plan. If we see hive beetles on the top cover or in the honey supers, the hive space has
to be reduced to save the honey. The first thing to do is to remove all the capped honey and try to
reduce the hive down to one medium super with the uncapped honey. If this is not possible, do
you have a freezer to store a super or two of uncapped honey? The freezer will kill all the
beetles, eggs and larvae. If not, do you have a ‘clean’ hive (no beetles) to put the uncapped
supers on? Be sure to extract the capped honey immediately – the beetles will ruin it even in the
honey house!
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Early on, it was obvious we had to have a way to control the hive beetle population in our hives.
Everything we tried killed beetles – sometimes a lot of beetles. But every time I opened a hive
there were just as many adult beetles inside the hive as before. Common sense told me that was a
real problem. We finally developed our own heavy duty screened bottom board and a full sized
oil tray. Having an oil tray that completely covers the bottom board seems to be the key to
effective beetle control. Smaller trays under the screen allow space for the beetles to breed
without interference from the bees.
Freeman Beetle Trap with rear access.
We had this many beetles
in nearly every hive!
Thankfully we don’t see many beetles in our hive now. They still fly in from the surrounding
area, but they don’t last long and our strong hives are able to keep them from reproducing. If you
have any stories or pictures about hive beetles, Varroa mites or beekeeping in general, send me
an email or call on the phone. With your permission, I’ll put it on our web site. I love to talk
about honeybees! http://freemanbeetletrap.com . Jerry
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