When I opened Proteus A today, the small hive beetle trap had totally unalluring lure in it. The lure had completely dried up in our 103 degree weather over the last few days.I removed the traps from all the hives and replaced the lure with juicy fresh alluring stuff in the bottle caps. In the corner where the SHB trap was, I found this collection of small hive beetles. I squashed many of them with my hive tool (see dead bodies in second picture)
I replaced the dried up lure in the third picture with new lure and put it all back together again. Maybe next week the beetles will be in the trap and not in the corner!
Bermuda, BTW, had about 20 beetles dead in the trap. I replaced their lure as well.
My sonny and mel trap lost its vigor after a couple of days. I took it out on Saturday and still only a count of 10 beetles. The count was 10 a week ago as well. I still had some liquid but obviously it lost its potency. I still have alot of beetles but I did squish alot of them when I inspected the hive on Sat. I installed a West Small Hive beetle trap and pulled out the S & M trap. I will let that sit for a few weeks and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteHello! I have enjoyed your posts! I will be moving back to MN to begin beekeeping with several hives in the Spring. Here is the kind of SHB trap I will be using, filled with 1/8" mineral oil. Page down to see how effective it is. I think you could adapt what you have to do this. fold the corners of the metal to make a leak-proof tray. : http://www.greenbeehives.com/ipk-small-hive-beetle-trap-assembled-unpainted.html
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