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I've been keeping this blog for all of my beekeeping years and I am beginning my 19th year of beekeeping in April 2024. Now there are more than 1300 posts on this blog. Please use the search bar below to search the blog for other posts on a subject in which you are interested. You can also click on the "label" at the end of a post and all posts with that label will show up. At the very bottom of this page is a list of all the labels I've used.

Even if you find one post on the subject, I've posted a lot on basic beekeeping skills like installing bees, harvesting honey, inspecting the hive, etc. so be sure to search for more once you've found a topic of interest to you. And watch the useful videos and slide shows on the sidebar. All of them have captions. Please share posts of interest via Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

I began this blog to chronicle my beekeeping experiences. I have read lots of beekeeping books, but nothing takes the place of either hands-on experience with an experienced beekeeper or good pictures of the process. I want people to have a clearer picture of what to expect in their beekeeping so I post pictures and write about my beekeeping saga here.Master Beekeeper Enjoy with me as I learn and grow as a beekeeper.

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Saturday, October 06, 2007

Small Hive Beetle Status as of Today

I opened the hives today to find more beetles than last Saturday. I smashed as many as I could with the hive tool. To think that last year I found it difficult to smash one - now I do it with abandon - not reckless abandon because I watch out not to injure a bee with my hive tool, but I certainly get into smashing the beetles.

I brought in the feeding jars from each hive to refill them in my kitchen. These are the beetles around the lid of the jar. While I don't use grease patties because they are known to increase the SHB, I must say that my feeding jar experience would indicate that an explosion of SHBs occurs with feeding sugar syrup as well. So far both hives are holding their own and there is no beetle damage - just lots of beetles.

At the end of the day, I've replaced the syrup feeder with more syrup, rejuvenated the bait in the Sonny-Mel trap on the left and just looked at the few dead beetles in the apple cider vinegar trap on the right in the frame.

I also saw a Varroa mite on the back of a bee, so I did another powdered sugar shake as well. Today was a pest control inspection!
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